€43m Van Gogh stolen

EGYPT’S top prosecutor says security lapses are to blame for the theft of a Vincent van Gogh painting from a Cairo museum.

Prosecutor general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud says none of the alarms and only seven out of 43 surveillance cameras at the Mahmoud Khalil Museum were functioning on Saturday when the painting was stolen. It is valued at around $55 million (€43m).

He told Egypt’s state news agency yesterday that security at the museum was “superficial”.

Egypt’s culture ministry said that police had recovered the painting from an Italian couple at Cairo Airport. But it later said the statement was based on false information and that the search for the painting continues.

The canvas goes by two titles – “Poppy Flowers” and “Vase with Flowers”.