Armed Thieves Stage Daylight Heist of Magritte’s ‘Olympia’

It’s been a little while since our last museum heist story, but one just happened late yesterday and it’s a doozy. The Guardian reports that two men, armed with pistols, staged a daylight theft of Rene Magritte‘s “Olympia” from a private museum in Brussels. The painting, which is of Magritte’s wife, is estimated to be worth more than $4 million, which the thieves snatched after making threats to museum officials and visitors, forcing them to kneel and keep their heads down as they made their getaway. Fortunately, no one was hurt and experts in stolen art feel that the heist won’t turn out very fruitful for the thieves, given the general familiarity with the painting, or will be held for ransom and then (hopefully) safely returned or abandoned.

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