Britain’s MI6 intelligence service is investigating how a camera holding sensitive information about al Qaeda suspects came to be lost by one of its agents.

Media reports said the Nikon digital camera was put up for sale on Internet trading site eBay and sold for just 17 pounds ($30.64). Its memory had names of al Qaeda members, fingerprints and suspects’ academic records as well as pictures of rocket launchers and missiles.

“We can confirm we seized a camera after a member of the public reported it,” said a statement by police in Hertfordshire, north of London, after the camera was handed into a police station.

“Intelligence services are investigating,” the statement added.

I’m beginning to think I should set aside a daily column just for security screw-ups by the British government.