Various international media and websites, including newsday.com, the Associated Press and The Los Angeles Times, yesterday reported that the tiny rock which was donated to Malta by former United States President Richard Nixon 30 years ago cost $5 million, or Lm1.78 million.

The rock was picked up in a lunar valley named Taurus-Littrow during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, the last of the Apollo moon-landing missions. It was one of many moon samples given to nations of the world by the US, the Associated Press reported.

The exact value of the rock was not known, but a similarly sized moon rock in Honduras, from the same Apollo mission, has been valued at $5million. That rock was also stolen, sometime between 1990 and 1994, and was recovered in 1998 after a sting operation, AP reported.

Museum curator Kenneth Gambin was sceptical about the monetary value of the rock, saying that something like that was difficult to evaluate. But it certainly has a historical and cultural value that made it priceless, he said.

He added that some 30 people had been in the museum in between the first and second inspection on the day it was stolen – last Tuesday – but no records had been on who the visitors were.

Contacted by The Malta Independent, Pierre Cassar, public programmes manager of Heritage Malta, which administers the museum, said security at the museum is not lax but is certainly insufficient due to a shortage of resources and funds.

No close-circuit television is available, although Heritage Malta considers this as a priority, there are no funds available to install such a system.

On the day of the robbery, the rock was still there during a routine inspection at 9am but was found missing five hours later. Someone had forced the display case open and removed the rock, without touching the Maltese flag, which US astronauts had taken up with them to the moon. The flag was on display next to the moon rock.

Mr Cassar said steps are being taken to improve security at the museum. A health and safety manager will be employed shortly, and his portfolio will also include security.

He added that an internal investigation had been carried out and it was deemed that the museum personnel present during the day in question could not be blamed for the robbery.

The matter was handed to the police who are investigating the case, Mr Cassar said.