One of Moscow’s most extravagant museums - the Vladimir Mayakovsky Museum - is missing 52 exhibits from its collection. Original works by Aleksandr Rodchenko and the poet's personal belongings are among the mysteriously absent artifacts.

The objects in fact went missing several year ago, though the museum only learned about it while doing inventories in 2007 and 2009, a report published Saturday by the head of Moscow’s Culture Department Sergey Kapkov revealed.

The museum’s director Svetlana Strizhenova says two of the missing objects were found abroad and were eventually returned to Moscow.

Mayakovsky’s glasses, his candlestick, several posters and other assorted items were among the items missing,  Rosbalt news agency reports.

The museum’s comprehensive collection includes a total of over 50,000 exhibits illuminating the world of the 1920s Soviet Union. Among them are more than 25,000 of books. 

The Vladimir Mayakovsky museum is situated in the very center of Moscow, next to the famed KGB headquarters in Lubyanka. Opened in 1974 in the house where the poet lived and committed suicide, the museum recreates the spirit of the time, the Revolution and the constructivist art movement.

Earlier this month media reported that the museum is set to be closed for renovation in 2014. This intention of the Moscow authorities sparked a wave of anxiety among the museum staff over the collection’s safety.

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