- Original Article
Police called in over Nomadic row
The police were called to look into the removal of artefacts from the historic White Star vessel SS Nomadic, it has emerged.
The artefacts - two ornate doors - were taken by the Nomadic Preservation Society which said it bought them in Paris and has proof of ownership.
The society now wants a formal apology from the Nomadic Trust, the government-appointed body which called the police.
The Nomadic Trust described the incident as "a misunderstanding".
'Loggerheads'
There is also a dispute over the ownership of a lifeboat which once belonged to the Nomadic.
The Nomadic Preservation Society has claimed it bought the lifeboat but the Nomadic Trust said it was under the impression that it had been gifted to the Trust.
The two organisation are at loggerheads over the direction of the multimillion pound project to restore the ship which ferried passengers to the ill-fated Titanic in 1912.
The Nomadic Preservation Society has so far raised £30,000 towards the cost of the restoration but has handed over just £470 of the funds to the Nomadic Trust.
David Scott-Beddard from the Nomadic Preservation Society said: "Our members don't want to give their money to the Trust because they don't know what the Trust is going to do with that money.
"Until [the Nomadic Trust] make a statement saying exactly the level of restoration that they hope to achieve and are aiming for, then why should we give them money when we don't know what they are going to do with it?"
It is estimated that it will cost between £5m and £7m to restore the Nomadic.
The doors, along with other artefacts bought by the Preservation Society, are now in storage.
It is not clear when they will be reunited with the boat.
In a statement to the BBC, the Nomadic Trust said the police had been called in the "genuine belief that items had been misappropriated".