Thieves broke into a Rotterdam museum early Tuesday and stole paintings by Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Andy Warhol and Claude Monet, closing down exhibitions, according to new reports.
Police haven't said how the theft took place or how the art was protected but are speaking with potential witnesses and looking at security camera footage,CNN reports. Experts who track stolen art said the robbers clearly knew what they were after, Associated Press reports.
The heist at the Kunsthal museum is one of the biggest in years in the Netherlands, according to Associated Press. It "is a stunning blow for the private Triton Foundation collection, which was being exhibited publicly as a group for the first time"
The artwork belonged to a private collection,The Triton Collection, and was put together by multimillionaire Willem Cordia, an investor and businessman, and his wife, Marijke Cordia-Van der Laan, Associated Press reports. It has taken 20 years to assemble and includes more than 150 works of modern art from the "late nineteenth century to the present day," CNN reports.
Kunsthal director Emily Ansenk spoke on behalf of the family in saying "we are shocked, but we will go on." (Associated Press).
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