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.
189 reports · Page 1 / 9
Unique miniature horse figurines and other collectibles and artwork were reported stolen from a parked car overnight on 7–8 November 2026 in downtown Portland. Police arrested a man on 11 November and booked him on theft-related charges. Police said he had not been charged over the original break-in and appealed for information about the whereabouts of the items. Photo: Portland Police Bureau.
The U.S. Indian Arts and Crafts Board reported that Jose Martinez pleaded guilty on 3 November 2026 to a felony under the Indian Arts and Crafts Act. He had falsely represented paintings and other items as made by Native American artists or members of specific tribes. A federal judge sentenced him to 24 months of supervised probation and ordered him to pay $14,100 in restitution. Documentary photo of Jose Martinez, courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement.
Western New Mexico University Police announced on 9 November that all objects stolen from the university museum had been recovered intact. The Silver City Daily Press identified them as four Mimbres ceramic vessels from Elk Ridge pueblo. Police said the investigation was ongoing and charges were expected. Documentary photo of the damaged museum window: Raleigh Burleigh / Silver City Daily Press.
Documentary image: U.S. Department of Justice. Image source ↗
U.S. prosecutors announced the forfeiture of antiquities following an investigation into shipments to a Florida recipient. The Department of Justice published a collage showing examples of the seized material.
Christie’s announced that Near Abiquiu, New Mexico I, a 1930 painting previously known to catalogue researchers through a photograph, had resurfaced in a box stored in an East Village apartment. The auction house listed it for public exhibition and a sale scheduled for 17 November 2026.
Mia announced the display of Albert Theer’s 1847 miniature of Carl Graf Gleispach. Taken from Eduard Epstein during Nazi persecution, it was returned to heir Jackie Sondell in August 2026. The November announcement concerns her loan to Mia, beginning 3 November; the restitution occurred earlier.
Miami Fine Art Gallery after the FBI raid; Carolina Ana Drake / The Art Newspaper Image source ↗
The FBI reported that a Coconut Grove dealer received a federal prison sentence for selling forged works attributed to Andy Warhol.
A New York ceremony marked the return to Greece of 15 antiquities that Manhattan prosecutors said had been seized from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The items included two bronze helmets and three waist guards from Afrati in Crete, as well as a Bronze Age beak-spouted jug from the Argolis–Corinthia region.
The Young Mother and Mary and Her Lamb were stolen from New York galleries in the 1970s. The two oil paintings were recovered about five decades later.
Police recovered the bronze bust of the Olympic gymnast more than a year after its theft from Phalen Regional Park. Photo of the recovered bust: Saint Paul Police Department, via MPR News.
Artifacts at the Los Angeles repatriation ceremony; CBS LA Image source ↗
The FBI reported returning 48 cultural artifacts to Egypt following an investigation into illicit trafficking. The objects included carved figures.
Milwaukee police received a print of Torero on 5 August. An authenticator confirmed it was the print taken from DeLind Fine Art Appraisals in 2018. Documentary image of the handover: TMJ4.
Two thieves used a truck to remove the South Vietnamese soldier figure from Tuan Nguyen's Thank You America monument on 21 June. Police recovered the bronze near Coyote Creek Trail and Highway 280 less than two hours after the theft was reported. The truck had also been stolen. The suspects had not been identified at publication; the recovery did not establish that the figure had been reinstalled.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced the repatriation to Mexico of a standing male ceramic figure made by Nayarit artists around 100–400 CE. The decision followed evidence from the Manhattan District Attorney’s ongoing investigations and the museum’s own provenance research.
One of the two Avalokiteshvara bronzes returned to Indonesia. Image: U.S. Department of Justice. Image source ↗
U.S. authorities returned two eighth-century Buddhist bronzes to Indonesia in New York. Prosecutors identified them as objects removed from Indonesian archaeological sites and later sold by antiquities dealer Douglas Latchford.
Gustave Courbet, Mother and Child on a Hammock. Matthiesen Gallery. Image source ↗
Thomas Doyle pleaded guilty to wire fraud over Mother and Child on a Hammock. Prosecutors said he sold the work through a gallery and withheld the owner’s proceeds. At publication, sentencing was scheduled for November 2026; no sentence had yet been imposed.
Padmapani and Nrtyadevi sculptures returned to Nepal — artwork or case documentation from the linked image source. Image source ↗
Manhattan prosecutors returned a gilt bronze Padmapani and a polychromed wooden Nrtyadevi following trafficking investigations. Archival festival and monastery photographs helped establish that the figures had been stolen from Nepal.
A New York appeals court lifted a stay in a claim against Christie’s concerning the 2009 sale of a Degas pastel from the former collection of Margarete Kainer. Her putative heirs allege the work was looted under the Nazis and sold without their consent. The ruling allowed proceedings to continue without determining ownership. Image: an auction record for the pastel, via amNewYork.
Erwin Bankowski and Karolina Bankowska pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy and misrepresentation of Native American goods. Sentencing had not occurred at the source date.
One of the objects returned to Peru. Image: FBI. Image source ↗
The FBI handed over 48 objects at the Peruvian embassy after investigations in New Mexico and Nevada. The group included colonial paintings and textiles, ceramics and silver ornaments.
Recovered knife and beaded sheath. Image: U.S. Department of Justice. Image source ↗
Investigators recovered an antique pistol and a knife in a beaded sheath after their 2024 theft from the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. The defendant pleaded guilty and was sentenced to nine months in prison in February 2026.
