Four
paintings stolen from a museum in the Pretoria, South Africa on Sunday were
found three days ago in a private cemetery hundreds of miles away, spokesperson
of the city, Pieter De Necker said.
Recovered paintings are - Maggie Laubser’s Cat and Petunias (1936), Hugo Naude’s
Hottentot Chief, JH Pierneef’s Eland and Bird (1961) and Irma Stern’s Fishing
Boats (1931) - were found underneath a bench at the Ned Geref Kerk in Sundridge
Park.
However, an oil painting by Gerard
Sekoto, valued at $800,000, was not among the recovered works.
Meanwhile a source said the museum "the CCTV cameras were not working athe time
of the theft.”
No arrests
have been made a Police source said.
Spokeswoman
Brigadier Marinda Mills said on Tuesday the paintings were discovered by a
member of the K9 Unit who had received a tip-off from one of his contacts.
“The officer
was contacted by an informer in the morning. The member went to the cemetery
and found the paintings in a small private cemetery in Sundridge Park, behind
the Dutch Reformed Church.
“Verification
of the art must still be done, but from a layman’s view they appear to be the
same pieces that were taken in Pretoria,” said Mills.
She praised
the manner in which the community had worked with police.
“The
importance of police members sustaining good relations with the members of the
public has once again proved how valuable this can be in the fight against
crime,” said Mills.
She said the
Eastern Cape SAPS would be in contact with Gauteng police to assist with the
investigation.
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