THIEVES STEAL TWO PAINTINGS FROM NATIONAL ART GALLERY IN GREECE

The Washington Post_ reports that thieves have stolen two important paintings from Athens’s National Art Gallery today. The two oil paintings, a Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian, were burgled from the museum, as well as a pen-and-ink drawing by Guglielmo Caccia. The thieves also tried to snatch another Mondrian, but abandoned it as they fled the scene of the crime. According to museum officials, the criminals entered through a balcony door and took the loot in a seven-minute operation that probably depended on extensive planning, as evidenced by the alarms that were set off on several occasions since Sunday evening, prompting guards to disable the system. The painting by Picasso is a cubist female bust that was donated to Greece in 1949 in honor of its resistance efforts against the Nazi party. The dedication reads: IN HOMAGE TO THE GREEK PEOPLE.