01 HISTORICAL DOSSIERS
Still Missing
The artworks still sought. The families still searching.
Explore the cases
Global Archive of Art Theft, Forgery & Restitution
Explore documented cases of stolen art, art forgery, recovery and restitution worldwide, along with related court disputes. Every report links to its source.
Six countries · a global watch
Live clocksArt crime across time zones
Clocks show the time now. Below each clock: the latest documented case in that country from our archive.
Red mark: source-reported theft time. An arc shows a reported time window on the outer 24-hour scale. Only shown where timing is documented.
“Published” is the report date, not the theft date. Cases may cover thefts, recoveries or returns. Click a clock for the case details and source.
Why these six countries? · Data published in 2023
These are the six leading countries in an INTERPOL register snapshot published by a Cornell Data Journal team on 16 December 2023. Counts refer to objects registered as stolen, not theft incidents. This historical snapshot is not a current, comprehensive worldwide ranking.
- France8,133 objects
- Italy7,721 objects
- Turkey3,034 objects
- Iraq2,786 objects
- Belgium2,336 objects
- Netherlands1,756 objects
Published analysis ↗Underlying data table ↗About the INTERPOL register ↗
Explore by country
All countriesThefts around the world
Art Theft Map
Explore reported theft locations in the archive. Pins are approximate; dates refer to source reports. A historical theft report does not mean the artwork is still missing.
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Choose a pin to see the story and artwork.
Drag to pan; use + / − to zoom. This map shows reports in this archive, not all art thefts worldwide.
Browse the reports on this map (128)
- ArgentinaBronze elements stolen from Güemes monument
- AustraliaStolen Ermenegildo Zegna trophy remains missing despite reward
- AustraliaSparkly Bear sculpture stolen with a truck and crane in Brunswick
- AustraliaSir Joseph Banks memorial sculpture stolen from Canberra gardens
- AustriaPolice investigate disappearance of more than 200 Mozart figures in Salzburg
- AustriaErnst Fuchs Museum increases reward for stolen painting
- AustriaErnst Fuchs’s Daphne bronze missing from Vienna exhibition
- AustriaPierre-Auguste Renoir painting stolen from Vienna’s Dorotheum auction house
- BelgiumRenaissance Madonna stolen from a church in Zele
- BelgiumEnsor, Van Dongen and other works stolen from Van Buuren Museum
- BrazilMatisse and Portinari works stolen from library
- BrazilDalí, Matisse, Monet and Picasso works stolen from Rio museum
- CanadaTimothy Schmalz’s bronze figure of Jesus stolen from Surrey school
- CanadaBronze sculpture valued at about C$175,000 stolen in central Waterloo
- CanadaSecwépemc landmark sculpture stolen from Tappen Bluffs
- CanadaThree Maud Lewis painted Christmas cards reported stolen in Halifax
- CanadaBronze statue of St. Teresa of Avila stolen from Ancaster cemetery
- CanadaRichard Forbes bronze horse head stolen from Vancouver gallery
- CanadaJellyfish sculpture stolen from Calgary’s Beakerhead festival
- CanadaJohn Greer’s bronze Feather stolen from Guelph sculpture park
- CanadaSuzor-Coté oil painting stolen from Halifax gallery
- CanadaGolden egg stolen from Salvador Dalí’s Space Venus
- CanadaA.Y. Jackson landscape stolen from Toronto home
- CanadaBanksy’s Trolley Hunters stolen from Toronto exhibition
- CyprusFilippos Giapanis’s Balance stolen from Cyprus sculpture park
- CyprusBronze sparrow stolen again from Yiota Ioannidou’s Paphos sculpture
- EgyptVan Gogh’s Poppy Flowers stolen in Egypt
- FranceSalvador Dalí bronze book cover stolen
- FranceLouvre jewels added to INTERPOL stolen art database
- FranceThe theft of five masterpieces from the Musée d’Art moderne de Paris
- FranceFernando Botero's Maternity stolen from a Paris gallery
- FranceChinese and Thai artworks stolen from Fontainebleau palace
- FranceA red Picasso sketchbook disappears from the Paris museum
- FrancePicasso paintings stolen from granddaughter’s home
- GermanyLife-size bronze of a seated woman stolen from an Essen cemetery
- GermanyWooden wild boar sculpture stolen from Werl playground
- GermanyHans Arp bronze reported stolen at Art Cologne
- GermanyPolice seek Ernst Sauer’s stolen bronze Der Liegende
- GermanyLife-size bronze woman stolen from a Duisburg family grave
- GermanyPolice seek untitled Elfi Frauendorf work stolen in Berlin
- GermanyPainting of golfers stolen in Berlin burglary
- GermanyIris Ulbricht’s Murmel stolen from Berlin exhibition
- GermanyBronze Pine figure reported stolen in Pirna
- GermanyOil painting stolen from an office in Berlin-Steglitz
- GermanyTwo de Belsunce portraits stolen in Berlin
- GermanyBronze angel sculpture stolen from Rostock cemetery
- GermanyLunita July Dorn painting stolen during Berlin opening
- GermanyRuthild Hahne bronze head stolen in Berlin
- GermanySeven Jean-Noel Schramm watercolours stolen from Berlin hospital
- GermanyNine Itamar Zion Yehiel embroideries stolen in Berlin
- GermanyOil painting of a monk with a jug stolen in Berlin
- GermanyHeinrich Martens bronze girl stolen from Monheim civic centre
- GermanyNeureuther’s 1827 view of Munich stolen from storage
- GermanyCharles Fazzino porcelain apple stolen from a Hamburg gallery
- GermanyErik van Lieshout and Andy Hope 1930 paintings stolen in Berlin
- GermanyBalthasar Lobo’s Mutter mit Kind stolen in Berlin foundry burglary
- GermanyRoland Lindner bronze heron stolen from a Berlin-Frohnau garden
- GermanyTwo Dave the Chimp drawings stolen from Berlin exhibition
- GermanyFrau am Fluss bronze stolen from Duisburg’s Goerdeler Park
- GermanySix sculptures stolen from Bochum’s Stadtpark
- GermanyReinhold Böltzig’s Reifenwerferin stolen from former embassy grounds
- GermanyElena Panknin bronze sculpture stolen during Berlin exhibition opening
- GermanyHeavy bronze seal sculpture stolen from Wilhelmshaven storage yard
- GermanyRichie Culver’s Contemplation stolen from a Berlin auction house
- GermanyLore Plietzsch’s flute-playing children bronze stolen in Berlin
- GermanyPaul van Hoeydonck’s Man in Space stolen from Berlin gallery
- GermanyWilliam N. Copley work stolen from Berlin-Mitte gallery
- GermanyTwo Bruno Bielefeld paintings sought after Berlin residential theft
- GermanyGhada Amer ceramic sculpture taken from a Berlin gallery
- GermanyPolice seek witnesses after Dresden’s Green Vault jewel theft
- GermanyReward campaign seeks Lucian Freud’s stolen Francis Bacon portrait
- Israel27 artworks stolen from the Wilfrid Israel Museum
- IsraelRodin bronze stolen from the Israel Museum
- ItalyFour Renaissance artworks stolen from museum in Messina
- ItalyRenoir, Cézanne and Matisse paintings stolen from private museum
- ItalyThieves take a decoy after police safeguard a Brueghel Crucifixion
- JapanTwo bronze statues stolen from a Tokyo public park
- NetherlandsTwo Andy Warhol prints stolen from gallery
- NetherlandsFrans Hals’s Two Laughing Boys stolen again
- NetherlandsVan Gogh painting stolen from Singer Laren
- NetherlandsSeven works stolen from Kunsthal Rotterdam
- New ZealandKarin de Beer's Tiori Toru stolen from Whangārei's Hundertwasser Art Centre
- New ZealandPrivate reward offered after Harawene dog sculpture theft
- New ZealandTwo Gottfried Lindauer portraits stolen in Auckland gallery ram raid
- South AfricaReward advertised for paintings stolen in Pretoria hijacking
- SwedenDalí sculptures and etchings stolen in Stockholm gallery raid
- SwedenRoyal funeral crowns and orb stolen from Strängnäs Cathedral
- SwitzerlandUp to €1 million advertised for paintings stolen in Valais
- SwitzerlandInsurers consider reward for stolen Lausanne-Vidy museum coins
- United KingdomLipton Cup still missing; arrested man released without charge
- United KingdomCourt summons issued after hedgehog statue theft
- United KingdomClare Haggas’s Making Amends stolen at Cheltenham Festival
- United KingdomBronze deer stolen from outside a Lyndhurst property
- United KingdomTeddy Baldock bronze statue stolen from Langdon Park
- United KingdomMore than 600 objects stolen from Bristol Museums storage
- United KingdomNelson Mandela print stolen from Liverpool’s St George’s Hall
- United KingdomBronze Dalmatian sculpture stolen in Sudbury
- United KingdomAnne Curry bronze sculpture stolen from her garden
- United KingdomDorset Police seek paintings stolen from Lyme Regis art studio
- United KingdomHenry the bronze stag stolen from Alison Cork’s London home
- United KingdomLeaping-woman statue stolen from The Grove Hotel grounds
- United KingdomJapanese bronze hawk incense burner stolen from Alton auction house
- United KingdomSarah Księska’s Präparat stolen during London Frieze week
- United KingdomGrayson Perry’s Alien Baby stolen from Bristol’s Hidden Gallery
- United KingdomTwenty lead statues stolen from a Moreton-in-Marsh estate
- United KingdomBronze lion stolen from Born Free outdoor exhibition in Bristol
- United KingdomChrist Church theft: Van Dyck, Carracci and Rosa
- United KingdomTwo Polly Rome bronze sculptures stolen from a Rockbourne home
- United KingdomMaurizio Cattelan’s gold toilet stolen from Blenheim Palace
- United KingdomBronze hare statues stolen from a Goodworth Clatford garden
- United KingdomHenry Moore bronze stolen from Glenkiln Sculpture Park
- United KingdomReward advertised after Barbara Hepworth sculpture theft
- United KingdomOver 100 gold boxes and precious objects stolen from Waddesdon Manor
- United StatesPortland police seek stolen miniature horse figurines after arrest
- United StatesKwan Wu’s bronze figure of an Osage woman stolen in Kansas City
- United StatesJeffrey Laudenslager offers reward after kinetic sculpture theft
- United StatesSix paintings stolen in Dallas during transport
- United StatesSalvador Dalí etching stolen from San Francisco gallery
- United StatesThree Kieron Williamson paintings stolen in Arizona
- United StatesVivienne Scholl photograph stolen from Madrone Art Bar
- United StatesChez Tortoni and the works stolen from the Gardner Museum
- United StatesAnn Pibal’s CBLT taken from New York’s Team Gallery
- United StatesGinny: reward advertised for sculpture stolen in 1980
- United StatesSam Tufnell’s Electric Blueberry gnome stolen from Florida museum
- United StatesSeven Andy Warhol Campbell’s Soup I prints stolen from Springfield Art Museum
- United StatesReward doubled for Mother and Child sculpture stolen in Eau Claire
- United StatesFBI appeals for Renoir stolen in Houston armed robbery
- United StatesEleven Warhol portraits stolen from a Los Angeles home
The stories behind the art
Explore all stories Stolen. Sought. Found.
2004Oslo, Norway · Recovered in 2006
Daylight, guns and another Scream
This time there was no ladder and no taunting postcard. Armed men entered an open museum while visitors were inside.
Read the story 3 min
2005Perry Green, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom · Missing; police believed it destroyed
Two tonnes vanished. The metal was the danger.
The bronze seemed too heavy to steal. A crane made its weight manageable, and its artistic value may not have mattered to the thieves.
Read the story 3 min
2000Stockholm, Sweden → Copenhagen, Denmark · Recovered and returned
A speedboat, a hotel room and a very small Rembrandt
An armed robbery emptied three spaces in Stockholm. The return took years, several countries and an undercover operation.
Read the story 3 min
HISTORICAL EDITION · 1933–1945
Art, loss & memory
02 HISTORICAL DOSSIERS
Looting & Restitution
Dispossession, long battles and the paths to restitution.
Explore the casesThe upper strip shows details of the featured artworks; the lower strip uses World War II archive photographs as historical context.
Art Wanted · Rewards
87 entries · 88 documented offers · terms apply
Newest additions first · up to ten entries in each group.
Officially advertised offers 59
Official sources checked; terms apply.
Jan Brueghel the Elder · A Garland of Flowers Surrounding a Picture of FloraUp to$15,000Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Jan Brueghel the Elder · Still Life with FlowersUp to$7,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Canaletto · The Riva degli Schiavoni in VeniceUp to$7,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Caravaggio · Portrait of a Young Woman (Fillide Melandroni)Up to$20,000Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Annibale Carracci · Self-PortraitUp to$2,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Cima da Conegliano · Virgin and ChildUp to$2,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Lovis Corinth · Tyrolean with CatUp to$2,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Gustave Courbet · The WaveUp to$15,000Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Lucas Cranach the Elder · Saint GeorgeUp to$7,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
Aelbert Cuyp · Spring Landscape with PoolUp to$2,500Monuments Men and Women FoundationEnds: 2026-12-31
10 of 59 entries · see the full list for the rest.
Published offers · current validity unconfirmed 18
Amounts reported by the cited sources, without confirmation that the offers remain valid.
Heinrich Martens’s bronze girl with a ballUp to€5,000Validity unconfirmed
LeRoy Neiman — Oscar de la Hoya – Shane MosleyAdvertised reward$5,000Centaur Art GalleriesValidity unconfirmed
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts — 1972 theftAdvertised rewardAmount not publishedInsurers, according to Radio Canada InternationalValidity unconfirmed
Giapanis · BalanceAdvertised reward€5,000Validity unconfirmed
Zegna · Gold sheep trophyAdvertised rewardA$15,000Validity unconfirmed
Valais · Chalet theftUp to€1,000,000Validity unconfirmed
Lausanne · Gold coinsUp to€200,000Validity unconfirmed
Ernst Fuchs · ViennaAdvertised reward€30,000Validity unconfirmed
Harawene · RotoruaAdvertised rewardNZ$5,000Validity unconfirmed
Henry · LondonAdvertised reward£1,000Validity unconfirmed
10 of 18 entries · see the full list for the rest.
Archive · recovered works or documented outcomes 10
Historical reward offers; reported returns, recoveries or destruction.
Llew Summers · FlightAdvertised rewardNZ$4,000Archive · see outcome
Amelia Earhart · ReturnedAdvertised rewardCA$25,000Archive · see outcome
Titian · RecoveredAdvertised reward£100,000Archive · see outcome
Picasso · RecoveredAdvertised rewardA$50,000Archive · see outcome
Unkrey · The HammerAdvertised reward$1,000Archive · see outcome
Van Gogh · Two paintingsAdvertised reward€100,000Archive · see outcome
Bührle · RecoveredAdvertised rewardCHF 100,000Archive · see outcome
Goya · Children with a CartUp to$50,000Archive · see outcome
Munch · Two paintingsUp toNOK 2,000,000Archive · see outcome
Cellini · SalieraAdvertised reward€70,000Archive · see outcome
ArtistsAll artists125
190–210 of 764 reports
Sparkly Bear before the theft. Credit: Gillie and Marc, via ABC. Image source ↗
Brunswick, Melbourne, Australia
Sparkly Bear sculpture stolen with a truck and crane in Brunswick
Gillie and Marc’s bronze Sparkly Bear was stolen from Barkly Square in Brunswick early on 11 September 2024. Police said three offenders used an angle grinder and a truck-mounted crane to remove the bear-on-a-bicycle sculpture. The artwork was valued at about A$60,000. The investigation remained open when ABC published its follow-up; no recovery was announced.
Berlin, Germany
Oil painting of a monk with a jug stolen in Berlin
Berlin police reported that an oil painting depicting a man holding a jug had been stolen from a flat in Pankow in July. Photo: Berlin Police.
London, United Kingdom
Banksy's Girl with Balloon recovered
Police announced the recovery after the work was stolen from a London gallery on 8 September.
Genoa, Italy; Ottawa, Canada
Stolen Yousuf Karsh portrait of Winston Churchill located in Italy
Authorities located Yousuf Karsh's The Roaring Lion in Italy after its theft from Ottawa's Château Laurier hotel. A copy had concealed the loss for months. Police said the print was sold through a London auction house to an Italian buyer, both unaware of the theft. At publication, its return to the hotel was planned; this report does not treat that future return as completed.
The bronze St. Teresa of Avila statue stolen from Resurrection Cemetery. Image: Hamilton Police Service. Image source ↗
Ancaster, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Bronze statue of St. Teresa of Avila stolen from Ancaster cemetery
Hamilton police announced an investigation into the theft of a bronze St. Teresa of Avila statue from Resurrection Cemetery in Ancaster. The approximately 3½–4-foot statue was taken between 6 and 9 September 2024. Police were seeking witnesses and information at the publication date.
New York, United States / Türkiye
Manhattan returns 14 antiquities to Türkiye
Manhattan prosecutors returned 14 antiquities to Türkiye. The office valued the group at more than US$8.3 million and linked the objects to several investigations, including one into looting at the ancient city of Bubon. Image: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Brussels, Belgium
Belgium reports convictions after fake artworks seized from Brussels galleries
Belgian authorities reported convictions arising from investigations of two Brussels galleries. Seized items included forged bronzes and lithographs falsely attributed to Joan Miró, as well as sculptures falsely attributed to Niki de Saint Phalle and Arman. Image shows seized works, Belgian Federal Public Service Economy.
Toronto, Canada / New York, United States
Mondex settles fee dispute over restituted Chagall
Toronto restitution firm Mondex settled a lawsuit with an heir over fees for recovering Marc Chagall’s Over Vitebsk. The painting had hung at New York’s Museum of Modern Art for decades before its 2020 restitution. The photo shows the artist Marc Chagall.
Modane, France / Madrid, Spain
Prado examination identifies a supposed Leonardo portrait as a later imitation
Spanish police said French customs intercepted the purported Portrait of Giacomo Trivultio while it was being transported to Milan. The expired export permit listed a value of €1.3 million. A technical examination at the Prado ruled out Leonardo’s authorship and dated the imitation to probably the early 20th century. Photo shows the disputed portrait, Policía Nacional via Artnet.
Valencia, Spain
Police seize three paintings falsely attributed to Picasso in Valencia
Regional police seized three works offered as Picassos. According to the report, Picasso’s estate rejected the attributions. The seizure was an investigative step.
New York, United States
Schiele's Seated Nude Woman returned by the Papanek family to Grünbaum's heirs
Seated Nude Woman (1918) by Egon Schiele was returned to Fritz Grünbaum's heirs at a Manhattan ceremony. The Papanek family, themselves descendants of refugees from Nazi persecution, investigated its provenance and contacted the heirs. This was the eleventh work returned in the Manhattan prosecutor's Grünbaum investigation and a separate restitution from the seven-work handover in September 2023.
Los Angeles, United States
Twenty cultural objects handed back to Australia’s Warumungu community
The Fowler Museum handed 20 cultural objects, including a hooked boomerang, knives and fighting implements, to representatives of the Warumungu community of Tennant Creek. Elders, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and museum staff worked together to identify the objects before the permanent return.
25 countries
Pandora VIII: over 6,400 objects recovered
INTERPOL and Europol reported 85 arrests. Investigations included gold objects stolen in Ukraine and recovered with Spanish cooperation.
Amorsolo’s Mango Harvesters recovered after Silay museum theft — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
Quezon City and Silay, Philippines
Amorsolo’s Mango Harvesters recovered after Silay museum theft
Investigators recovered Mango Harvesters in Quezon City days after its July 2024 theft from the Hofileña Museum. Two suspects were arrested. This report concerns recovery; subsequent return to the museum occurred separately.
Art handlers prepare a sculpture for return to Cambodia. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source ↗
New York, United States; Cambodia
Met announces physical return of 14 sculptures to Cambodia
The Met announced the physical return of 14 sculptures to Cambodia, including The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Seated in Royal Ease and Head of Buddha. The works had been deaccessioned in December 2023 following the investigation into Douglas Latchford’s trafficking network. This report records the transfer announcement, rather than confirmation of arrival.
Police image showing the Sir Joseph Banks memorial sculpture. Credit: ACT Policing. Image source ↗
Canberra, Australia
Sir Joseph Banks memorial sculpture stolen from Canberra gardens
ACT Policing appealed for witnesses after the Sir Joseph Banks memorial sculpture was taken from its plinth near the Australian National Botanic Gardens information kiosk on 25 June 2024, between 3pm and 3.25pm. Police described the brass sculpture as weighing about 25kg and asked visitors to check photographs and video. The release announced an investigation, not charges or a recovery.
Heinrich Martens’s bronze girl with a ball, before the theft; police/city appeal photograph. Image source ↗
Monheim am Rhein, Germany
Heinrich Martens bronze girl stolen from Monheim civic centre
Police reported the theft of Heinrich Martens’s bronze girl holding a ball from Baumberger Bürgerhaus between 26 and 27 June 2024. The roughly one-metre figure, weighing over 60 kg, was cut from its base. The city advertised €5,000 for information leading to its discovery. This is the status in the 28 June police appeal; no recovery or arrest was announced. Photo supplied with the police/city release.
Ernst Fuchs, Hinter dem Schweißtuch der Veronika (1953). Museum press photograph via APA-OTS. Image source ↗
Vienna, Austria
Ernst Fuchs Museum increases reward for stolen painting
The Ernst Fuchs Museum raised its reward to €30,000 for Hinter dem Schweißtuch der Veronika, stolen in June 2023. The June 2024 offer is historical; current validity is unconfirmed.
Titian, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt. Christie’s; the painting recovered in 2002. Image source ↗
Longleat and London, United Kingdom
Titian: historical reward and recovery
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, stolen in 1995, was recovered in 2002 after a £100,000 reward was offered.
London, United Kingdom
Conservation reveals later alterations to Rubens’s Judgement of Paris
After more than a year of conservation, the National Gallery documented changes made to Rubens’s Judgement of Paris. Researchers found that some amendments were by an unidentified hand.
Vancouver, Canada
Artist Susanna Blunt sues dealer over missing and damaged works
Artist Susanna Blunt filed a civil claim against dealer Benjamin Lumb in British Columbia. She alleged that a sculpture was stolen during a 2021 group exhibition and that other works were damaged at a separate exhibition in 2022. The image shows Blunt’s missing sculpture The Storm.
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The week’s key developments in art theft, forgery, recovery, restitution and the courts. Every Monday.
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