A REMBRANDT pen-and-ink sketch reported stolen from a Californian hotel on Saturday has been located at a church about 20 miles (32 km) away.
The sketch, called The Judgment, dated from 1655 and was being displayed in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Marina del Rey to attract a buyer when it disappeared on Saturday evening.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said the item was stolen while the exhibition curator was distracted, but that it wasn’t clear whether the person who had distracted him was part of the plot to steal the sketch.
Police announced early this morning that they had recovered the artwork, but said that no one had been arrested.
They said they received an anonymous tip-off last night that the sketch was in suburban church in the San Fernando Valley. A curator confirmed the authenticity of the item after its safe recovery.
The piece, which appears to depict a court scene, has been valued at $250,000.
- Additional reporting by the AP
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