Advertisement
This Article is From Mar 15, 2019

How Police Tricked Thieves Into Stealing Copy Of 3-Million Euro Painting

The painting has an estimated value of three million euros

How Police Tricked Thieves Into Stealing Copy Of 3-Million Euro Painting
Pieter Brueghel the Younger's "Crucifixion".

Thieves in Italy were left red-faced on Thursday after it emerged that the Flemish masterpiece they stole from a rural church was in fact a copy swapped by police.

"Currently the thieves are on the run," a policewoman in the northern village Castelnuovo Magra told AFP, confirming the theft of Pieter Brueghel the Younger's "Crucifixion".

Or so thieves thought when they grabbed the 17th century painting, with an estimated value of three million euros, after smashing a display case in the Saint Mary Magdalen church in northern province La Spezia.

Little did they suspect that police had caught wind of their plan to swipe the painted 43cm x 67cm wooden panel and substituted a copy a few weeks ago.

The painting was previously stolen by local criminals in 1979. They were arrested as they prepared to sell the work to foreign buyers, Italy's La Repubblica daily reported.

 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world

Follow us: