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Latest reports
Timothy Schmalz’s bronze figure of Jesus stolen from Surrey schoolLife-size bronze of a seated woman stolen from an Essen cemeteryWooden wild boar sculpture stolen from Werl playgroundHelen Denerley’s metal bird sculpture returned to Inverness theatrePortland police seek stolen miniature horse figurines after arrestMax Slevogt’s Paradiesvögel restituted to Eduard Fuchs’s heirs

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

Art crime across time zones

Live clocks

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.

  1. France8,133 objects
  2. Italy7,721 objects
  3. Turkey3,034 objects
  4. Iraq2,786 objects
  5. Belgium2,336 objects
  6. Netherlands1,756 objects

Published analysis ↗Underlying data table ↗About the INTERPOL register ↗

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Thefts around the world

Art Theft Map

128 theft reports · 20 countries

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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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)
The stories behind the art

Stolen. Sought. Found.

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Edvard Munch, The Scream, the MUNCH painted version dated 1910? in the museum catalogue; stolen with Madonna in 2004.2004
Oslo, 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
Henry Moore, Reclining Figure (1969–70), photographed before its theft from Perry Green.2005
Perry 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
Rembrandt, Self-Portrait (1630), Nationalmuseum, Stockholm; the copper painting recovered in 2005.2000
Stockholm, 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
The original Amber Room in 1931, before wartime removal; tinted historical photograph, not the modern reconstruction.Colour reproduction of Raphael’s missing Portrait of a Young Man, published by the Monuments Men and Women Foundation; not a newly discovered original.Scientific reconstruction of La pose enchantée, whose four quarters survive beneath later paintings; not an uncovered original.The three fake heads associated with the 1984 Livorno hoax; they are not sculptures by Amedeo Modigliani.An early copy of the Battle of Anghiari composition at Palazzo Vecchio, not a surviving mural by Leonardo.
Image details · Sources in each story
THE CLUES. THE SHADOWS. THE QUESTIONS.

Art Mysteries

Some artworks keep their secrets.

Explore the 20 stories
HISTORICAL EDITION · 1933–1945

Art, loss & memory

The upper strip shows details of the featured artworks; the lower strip uses World War II archive photographs as historical context.

ArtTraceX · The adventure starts hereJoin the art hunters — near you and around the worldThe next clue could be closer than you think.Start exploring

Art Wanted · Rewards

87 entries · 88 documented offers · terms apply

Newest additions first · up to ten entries in each group.

Rewards page →

Officially advertised offers 59

Official sources checked; terms apply.

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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.

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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.

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Art Forgery Stories

The Masterpieces That Never Were

All forgery stories
The white paint that exposed BeltracchiThe Vermeer the forger had to paint againThe fake Rothko that sold for $8.3 millionThe fakes planted in the Tate archives

Incident archive

Last update · 13 Nov 2026
ArtistsAll artists125

Report counts across the archive. Names include attributed works and reported forgeries.

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22–42 of 764 reports

Two Benin bronze heads displayed together in the Swedish ownership-transfer report.
Returned
Lagos, Nigeria / Sweden

Sweden transfers ownership of 39 Benin objects to Nigeria

Sweden’s National Museums of World Culture announced the transfer of ownership of 39 Benin objects to Nigeria’s NCMM, signed in Lagos on 5 November. The objects derive from the 1897 British looting. Six will remain in Sweden on a ten-year loan, so the announcement does not mean all 39 physically returned.

Art restitution
Read the source · via.tt.se ↗
A specialist examining the framed Virgen de la Leche painting recovered in Lima.
Recovered
San Isidro, Lima, Peru

Stolen Virgen de la Leche painting recovered in Lima

Infobae reports that Peruvian police recovered Virgen de la Leche, a colonial-era Ayacucho-school painting listed as stolen, in San Isidro. Culture Ministry specialists confirmed its identity; it was seized and taken for conservation assessment. The report does not announce restitution to an owner or a conviction.

Recovered art
Read the source · infobae.com ↗
Archival photograph of an artisan holding a metal plate in a workshop, illustrating the Picasso investigation.
Art forgery
Aix-en-Provence, France

French investigation follows Picasso heirs’ precious-metal forgery complaint

The Art Newspaper reports a criminal investigation following the Picasso heirs’ complaint alleging fraud and forgery involving silver plates and gold medallions. Allegations concern unauthorised production using Ateliers Hugo moulds. No finding of forgery or conviction is reported. Nicolas Hugo denies personally minting Picasso works.

Art forgeryPablo Picasso
Read the source · The Art Newspaper ↗
The missing bronze artwork, pictured in the Waterloo Regional Police appeal.

The missing bronze artwork, pictured in the Waterloo Regional Police appeal. Image source ↗

Stolen
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Bronze sculpture valued at about C$175,000 stolen in central Waterloo

Waterloo Regional Police announced an investigation into a stolen bronze sculpture valued at approximately C$175,000. City staff found it missing near the parkade at 60 King Street South and notified police on 29 October 2026. The exact theft date remained unknown when the release was published on 4 November.

Art theft
Read the source · wrps.ca ↗
Rembrandt, Self-Portrait (1630), Nationalmuseum, Stockholm

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