# Caught



## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Two Italians have been arrested trying to smuggle a $50m Vincent Van Gogh painting out of Cairo today, officials said this evening. 
Minister Farouk Hosni says airport security confiscated the priceless painting from two Italians just hours after the artwork was 'cut from its frame' at the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in the Egyptian capital.
The painting, known both as 'Poppy Flowers' and Vase with Flowers' had been stolen before from the same museum over 30 years ago in 1978.


Read more: BREAKING NEWS: Thieves steal Van Gogh painting from Cairo museum | Mail Online


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## Beatle (Aug 14, 2009)

MaidenScotland said:


> Two Italians have been arrested trying to smuggle a $50m Vincent Van Gogh painting out of Cairo today, officials said this evening.
> Minister Farouk Hosni says airport security confiscated the priceless painting from two Italians just hours after the artwork was 'cut from its frame' at the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in the Egyptian capital.
> The painting, known both as 'Poppy Flowers' and Vase with Flowers' had been stolen before from the same museum over 30 years ago in 1978.


 Apparently it's still missing and earlier reports were wrong......

BBC News - Egyptian minister says Van Gogh picture still missing


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## Sam (Aug 27, 2009)

Didn't even know the original was in Egypt!!

Sometimes I really think I need to read up more about this country I live in.


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## Beatle (Aug 14, 2009)

Sam said:


> Didn't even know the original was in Egypt!!
> 
> Sometimes I really think I need to read up more about this country I live in.


I'd go to the museum quickly before any of the remaining paintings are stolen! According to the latest BBC report:

"Mr Mahmud told reporters on Sunday that security measures at the museum had been "inadequate", describing them as "a facade".

"There are 43 security cameras but only seven are working. Each painting is protected by an alarm but again, none are working," he said.

Mr Mahmud said museum officials had been looking for spare parts to mend the security system, but that they "hadn't managed to find them".


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## Sam (Aug 27, 2009)

Beatle said:


> I'd go to the museum quickly before any of the remaining paintings are stolen! According to the latest BBC report:
> 
> "Mr Mahmud told reporters on Sunday that security measures at the museum had been "inadequate", describing them as "a facade".
> 
> ...


Or, get to the museum quickly and get your share of the bounty before the rest are stolen or security tightens


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Egypt on Monday arrested a senior culture ministry official blamed for lax security at a museum from which a Van Gogh was stolen and also boosted security at the country's entry and exit points.
"The search is ongoing. We still haven't found the painting," Culture Minister Faruq Hosni told AFP.
"Police are on alert at the borders and the airports," he said, adding that the interior ministry had told Interpol of Saturday's theft of the painting which Hosni called "Poppy Flowers" and is also known as "Vase with Flowers."
A judicial source said police have arrested the head of the culture ministry's fine arts section, Mohsen Shaalan, three museum security guards and another official on charges of negligence.
The museum's woman director has been released on bail.


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