State warehouse ‘cleaned out’ of historic art

A major Garda investigation is underway after the theft of State-owned paintings. The heist from a government warehouse only came to light when a civil servant saw one of the paintings for sale on the internet.

When staff at the Department of Arts checked the facility where the painting was supposed to be, they found many works had been taken.

The theft has prompted a full inventory of all art in storage by the department. The Irish Examiner could not confirm last night information it had received in relation to where the paintings came from or the paintings involved. Indications suggested the paintings were from a historic home in the hands of the State.

A Garda source said the paintings were moved to a warehouse 14 years ago for “safekeeping”.

He said: “Three weeks ago, one of the staff at the department was looking on the internet and came across one of the paintings up for sale. When they checked out the warehouse, everything was cleaned out.”

While the value of the paintings is not yet clear, gardaí suspect it to be significant.

It is thought the warehouse is located in Co Kildare.

A department spokeswoman said gardaí were investigating “the loss of a number of items held in private storage on behalf of the department”. She said Arts Minister Jimmy Deenihan did not want to comment any further on the specific case, but said he had instructed the department to take certain actions:

* Removal of all other department items in storage at the private facility to storage used by the National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland;

* An inventory of all artwork, furniture and other items in storage by the department;

* A physical check on the items;

* An in-depth report to be completed for the minister.