Rembrandt sketch stolen

A DRAWING by Rembrandt, valued at $250,000 (€173,000), was stolen from a hotel in southern California in what investigators said was a well-planned heist.

The pen-and-ink drawing, believed to be called The Judgement, was snatched while a curator was distracted by a guest at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey, according to Los Angeles county sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.

Detectives believe the theft occurred during a 15-minute window starting at 10.20pm.

“When the curator turned back to the Rembrandt, it was gone,” Whitmore said, adding that it “was a well-thought-out, well-executed theft”.

Investigators were studying surveillance video from the hotel.

The footage was unlikely to be made public, Whitmore said.

The drawing was part of an exhibition at the hotel sponsored by San Francisco’s Linearis Institute.