THE ARCHIVE BY COUNTRY
Published reports from our archive, newest first.
A country may refer to the theft, recovery, return or legal proceedings. A case can be linked to more than one country.
23 reports · Page 1 / 2
A life-size bronze figure of Jesus was stolen from Saint John Paul II Academy early on 11 November. It was part of Timothy Schmalz’s courtyard installation The Last Supper Table, which includes twelve stools. Surrey Police told Global News that officers were investigating. Photo: Nicholas Elbers / The B.C. Catholic, showing the installation before the theft.
The missing bronze artwork, pictured in the Waterloo Regional Police appeal. Image source ↗
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.
Both stone and metal sections of the Tappen Bluffs landmark were found missing in July 2026. The Columbia Shuswap Regional District renewed the appeal in October and credited artisans Rod Tomma, Tilkotmes Tomma, Rhona Bowe and Eric Kutschker. Image: Salmon Arm RCMP, via Castanet.
Luben Boykov’s Amelia Earhart statue at Harbour Grace in 2022, before its theft. VOCM News. Image source ↗
RCMP said all pieces of the Amelia Earhart statue stolen in April 2025 were recovered near Heart’s Content on 8 August and returned to the town. The statue had been cut apart. The investigation continued; neighbouring stolen plaques remained missing.
Three Maud Lewis painted Christmas cards reported stolen in Halifax — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
Halifax police appealed over three painted Christmas cards reported stolen from a Cambridge Street residence in November 2024. The notice identifies them as Maud Lewis works; a later recovery is not established here.
R. v. Voss et al., 2024 ONSC 5568, issued on 7 October 2024, records the 5 September sentencing of David Voss to five years in prison for his role in the scheme involving forged paintings attributed to Norval Morrisseau.
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 ↗
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.
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.
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.
The Gallery George reported the theft of a life-size bronze horse head by sculptor Richard Forbes from its Gastown premises on 14 November. The gallery valued the work at about C$20,000. The photo shows another cast of the sculpture, courtesy of Chali Rosso Art Gallery via CityNews.
Calgary Police sought the central section of a metal jellyfish sculpture installed for Beakerhead at Millennium Park. The piece was reported missing on 16 September 2023, with its anchor still in the ground. Image: Calgary Police Service via CityNews.
The Nisg̱a’a Nation celebrated the return of the House of Ni’isjoohl memorial pole in September 2023. Commissioned by matriarch Joanna Moody in 1860, the carved pole spent 94 years in Scotland. The image shows a Nisg̱a’a delegation with the pole in Edinburgh before transport.
The University of Guelph reported the theft of Feather, a 2.4-metre bronze crow feather commissioned for the Art Gallery of Guelph and installed in Donald Forster Sculpture Park. John Greer made the work in 1997. Photo of the sculpture: University of Guelph via Global News.
Vancouver police found the sculpture in East Vancouver eleven days after it was stolen from outside B.C. Children’s Hospital. The work is part of Marie Khouri’s Vessels series. The hospital foundation’s photograph, published by Castanet, shows the bronze on its plinth alongside a photo of the empty plinth.
An oil painting by Canadian artist Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté was taken from Zwicker’s Art Gallery in Halifax on 29 September 2021. The gallery valued it at C$12,500. Halifax Regional Police provided the artwork image.
Art Gallery of Ontario returns van Kessel still life to David family — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
The AGO restituted Still Life with Flowers, attributed to Jan van Kessel the Elder, to Dagobert and Martha David’s family. Research established a sale under duress during the German occupation of Belgium.
Art Recovery International announced that six paintings traced to an Ontario auction house had been returned to the owner. They were part of a larger group of artworks stolen from a Brampton storage unit in 2017. Image: Art Recovery International.
Space Venus after the theft; Susanna Strem / Chali Rosso Art Gallery Image source ↗
The golden egg was removed from the outdoor bronze Space Venus exhibited by Chali Rosso Art Gallery. The rest of the sculpture remained in place. At publication the gallery was requesting its return, and no suspects or recovery had been reported.
A Madonna and Child relief by Luca and Andrea della Robbia, stolen from a Scansano church in 1971, was traced to a collector in Canada. A predella attributed to Manfredino da Pistoia, stolen in Varazze in 1988, was recovered in London. Both returned to Italy and were presented on 17 April. The photograph, published by Eccoci Toscana, shows the relief.
Toronto police reported that A.Y. Jackson’s Sun Gleams: Autumn, North Saskatchewan was among the items taken from a home in the Annex neighbourhood on 18 January 2019. The oil on canvas was estimated at C$200,000. Image: Toronto Police via Global News.
