BRUSSELS: A dozen of valuable paintings were stolen from Brussels’ Van Buuren museum on Tuesday night, media reports said.
Masterpieces of Kees Van Dongen and James Ensor were among the stolen works of art. One stolen piece, Van Dongen’s La Penseuse (The Thinker), is valued at 1.25 million euro.
The museum’s repository held a collection of 15-19th century Flemish and Italian masters, including works by Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel and those identified as belonging to disciples of Van Gogh and Rembrandt.
The thieves reportedly entered the museum through a window and managed to take the paintings and escape before police arrived on the scene.
“The stolen paintings were of a big historical and heritage value,” said Isabelle Anspach, the conservator of the Van Buuren Museum in Brussels, Belgium.
