- THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Police recovered two stolen paintings by Dutch masters and handed them back Thursday to the provincial museum they were stolen from five months ago.
- Three suspects are in custody, police said.
The 17th-century paintings, a depiction of two laughing boys by Frans Hals and a forest landscape by Jacob van Ruisdael, were snatched from the Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden museum in the central town of Leerdam in late May.
The thieves triggered a burglar alarm, but had fled the building before police arrived. A search of the area immediately after the theft turned up only the frame of one of the paintings that had been dumped in a hedge.
A new tip about the paintings’ whereabouts led to their discovery on Oct. 28, police said in a statement. A fourth suspect is on the run, police said.
Police have not estimated the value of the paintings, but called them valuable parts of the country’s “cultural heritage.”