olena
<font color=green>Emerald Angel<br><font color=mag
- Joined
- May 12, 2001
- Messages
- 22,565
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - A stolen Van Gogh painting recovered from a public toilet was back on display in the north of England on Monday.
The picture, worth about two million pounds ($3 million), was snatched from Manchester's Whitworth gallery at the end of April, along with two other canvasses by Picasso and Gauguin.
An anonymous tip-off led police to a public toilet, where they found all three paintings rolled up inside a tube.
An accompanying note said: "The intention was not to steal, only to highlight the woeful security (at the gallery)." But police are treating the theft as a serious crime, and gallery staff are confused about the motive for the raid.
"We don't understand it. It was just bizarre," said conservator Nicola Walker. "It would have been better if they had just left someone a note."
The picture, worth about two million pounds ($3 million), was snatched from Manchester's Whitworth gallery at the end of April, along with two other canvasses by Picasso and Gauguin.
An anonymous tip-off led police to a public toilet, where they found all three paintings rolled up inside a tube.
An accompanying note said: "The intention was not to steal, only to highlight the woeful security (at the gallery)." But police are treating the theft as a serious crime, and gallery staff are confused about the motive for the raid.
"We don't understand it. It was just bizarre," said conservator Nicola Walker. "It would have been better if they had just left someone a note."
