Philly’s Seaport Museum break-in under investigation

Authorities are seeking the public’s help to identify two people who broke into the Independence Seaport Museum’s Boat Shop last week.

The two burglars gained entry to the museum, located at 211 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., at about 4:40 a.m. last Friday, according to city police. They made off with a welder and some tools before museum security could reach the scene.

The Seaport Boat Shop gives visitors the opportunity to observe and learn about wooden boat building and sailing in the Delaware Valley and at the Jersey Shore. Privately owned vessels are built there, and the museum’s own boat collection is maintained at the shop.

“No museum operations were impacted, as the perpetrators never got close to the museum exhibitions and would have had to pass through several more locked and alarmed doors to reach any potential area of vulnerability,” said Peter S. Seibert, president and CEO of the museum.

“Our visitors can expect the museum’s exhibitions and programming to be fully available and unaffected by this incident,” Seibert added.

That includes this Friday’s opening of the museum’s latest exhibit, “At the Water’s Edge: Working and Living Along the Delaware River.” It’s the first exhibit of the new Richard C. von Hess Foundation Gallery, located on the museum’s second floor.

» READ MORE: New exhibit about the history of life and work on the Delaware comes to the Seaport Museum

The modern tools taken in the break-in weren’t unique and are being replaced, the president noted. The door the burglars broke to enter the boat shop has been repaired.

Philadelphia police ask that anyone with information about the people in this security video contact them: