Displaying items by tag: custody

An employee at Russia's Hermitage Museum was arrested for stealing books and documents, some centuries-old, from the institution's celebrated collection and then trying to sell them to antique dealers, officials said Monday.

The man, who worked in the library of the Saint Petersburg museum, was taken into custody Friday in connection with a probe launched after items were found missing during an inspection last month, Russia's secret service FSB said in a statement.

U.S. authorities arrested a female suspect on Monday, July 29, 2013 for attacking three iconic landmarks in Washington, D.C. with green paint. The 58-year-old woman has been charged with defacing two chapels in the Washington National Cathedral and police have questioned her about similar defacement seen on the Lincoln Memorial and Smithsonian Castle last week. Authorities are testing paint samples from the three locations to see if the incidents are connected.

Cleaning crews began working to rid the landmarks of the unsightly paint on Monday evening. Officials believe that paint removal and subsequent repair to the National Cathedral could cost an estimated $15,000. The Lincoln Memorial, which was vandalized on Friday, July 26, 2013, is about 90% paint-free.

The suspect, Jiamei Tianh, is currently in custody.

Six Romanians will stand trial over the heist that took place at Rotterdam’s Kunsthal Museum this past October. Seven major paintings by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, and Henri Matisse were stolen during the robbery – the largest in years for the Netherlands.

The lifted works include Picasso’s Tete d’Arlequin, Matisse’s La Liseuse en Blanc et Jaune and Monet’s Waterloo Bridge, London and Charing Cross Bridge, London, which were on loan from the Triton Collection and on view as part of an exhibition celebrating the museum’s 20^th anniversary. The paintings, which have not been recovered, are valued at more than $130 million. In May, investigators were analyzing ashes found in the home of one of the suspect’s mothers, raising fears that the works may have been incinerated.

Radu Dogaru and Adrian Procop are accused of masterminding the theft. Dogaru and several other suspects have been in custody since January 2013, while Procop remains at large. A date for the trial has not been set.

A man was arrested on June 13, 2013 at London’s Westminster Abbey for defacing a portrait of Queen Elizabeth the II. The painting was commissioned in honor of her 60 years as England’s matriarch and was put on display May 23.

The incident took place during the afternoon when the assailant, a 41-year-old male, spray-painted The Coronation Theatre by Australian-born artist Ralph Heimans. The work, which is part of Westminster Abbey’s permanent collection, has been taken off public view.

Police arrested the man for alleged criminal damage and he was taken to a London police station where he remains in custody.