Thieves steal masterpieces

2006-02-25 08:29

Rio De Janeiro - Gunmen robbed a Rio de Janeiro art museum on Friday of their most valuable paintings including a Picasso, Matisse, Monet and Dali, the Chacara do Ceu museum director said.

The gunmen also mugged five tourists inside the museum, director Vera de Alencar told reporters.

She said at least four men brandishing firearms - including one that held a hand grenade - broke into the museum and made off with four paintings and a book.

Alencar said the paintings were the most valuable in the museum's collection and included Pablo Picasso's The Dance and a book by him titled Toros, Claude Monet's Marine, Henri Matisse's Garden of Luxembourg, and Salvador Dali's Two Balconies.

She said the robbers knew exactly what they were taking. "Dali's picture, for example, is the only one by him in public exhibition in Latin America."

There was no immediate estimate made of the value of the stolen paintings.

Police interviewed by local television news channels said a museum guard who tried to stop the thieves was hit in the face, while another who attempted to yank the Picasso from a robber's hands got hit over the head with a weapon.

The gunmen forced museum staff to disconnect the alarm and camera system before the heist, then disappeared into the vast crowd of Carnival goers outside as they fled.

The head of the ministry of culture's museum department, Jose do Nascimento Jr, urged prompt police action to recuperate the stolen art.

"Now its vital to make widely available pictures of the stolen paintings to prevent them from being sold," he added.

- AFP