Van Gogh Stolen from Museum, Again

A painting by Vincent van Gogh, Vase with Flowers, valued at over $49 million has been stolen from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Egypt. Via The Telegraph.

UPDATE: Aug. 21, 2010 8:58pm EST

Egypt’s cultural minister said the stolen Vincent van Gogh painting has been recovered by police at Cairo airport. Farouk Hosni says airport security confiscated the painting from two Italians Saturday evening.

UPDATE: Aug. 22, 2010 2:14pm EST

Seems like the painting is still missing, with the real culprit being the lack of security at the museum. According to Earth Times, only seven of the museum’s 47 surveillance cameras are working, while none of the alarms were functioning. Hours after the painting was reported missing Saturday, Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni said it had been recovered by police who stopped an Italian couple at Cairo airport, moments before they were due to leave the country. But Hosni later retracted his statement, saying the information was “inaccurate”. Update here.

Tags: art crime, Art Law, art theft, egyptian museums, impressionists, painting