Music belonging to the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica has been stolen, with the collection including rare records by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and other legends of reggae music.

Originally called Jamaica's Public Broadcasting Corporation the station was sold and rebranded in 1997. Thousands of original records, reels of music and rare film footage were scheduled to be given to the national library, before a break in relieved the station of around 80% of its collection.

"It's a national disgrace," said Gladstone Wilson, the former programme manager at JBC. "We've really thrown away or let people take what was not their own, but somehow they had access to it and all that history is lost."

Jamaican radio had a dismissive attitude towards reggae for some time. Despite being hugely popular amongst the dancehalls and sound systems of the country the radio stations stuck almost exclusively to a policy of playing imports, ignoring the hugely innovative indigenous scene.

Notorious for not paying royalties, there is little sympathy amongst some quarters of the Jamaican music scene towards the former JBC. Legendary producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry told an interviewer "I'm glad they did that - what you give you get, who robbed me deserve to get what they've got".