DRAGUIGNAN, France (AFP) – Around 30 paintings, including works by Picasso and Rousseau, valued at around a million euros (1.4 million dollars), have been stolen from a private villa in the south of France, police said Saturday.
But a Modigliani initially believed to be part of the haul has since been found, police in Toulon said.
The villa's French owner was holidaying in Sweden at the time of the break-in, which was discovered by the caretaker on Thursday afternoon.
Police said the owner had returned home to carry out an inventory of his collection to establish the exact loss.
The reported burglary in La Cadiere d'Azur comes after a pastel by Degas disappeared from the Cantini museum in Marseille on New Year's Eve. The 1877 pastel worth 800,000 euros had been lent for an exhibition by Paris' Orsay museum. Related article: Watchman questioned over stolen Degas
The painting had been unscrewed from the wall and there was no evidence of a break-in, police said, indicating the thief or thieves knew how to get round the museum's security system.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100102/ennew_afp/franceartcrime_20100102095533
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