The French police hunt a daring thief who stole a bronze statue worth almost half a million euros from a gallery located on the Champs Elysees in Paris – not far from the presidential palace. The unknown person simply entered the gallery and brought out the sculpture of the mother and child by the Colombian Fernando Botero.
After this, the attacker proceeded coldly in one of the most carefully guarded streets of France. In addition to the Elysee Palace on this boulevard are the embassies of Japan and Britain, as well as the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responsible for security. The agency France-Presse emphasizes that the protection of the Champs-Elysees has been strengthened after a series of terrorist attacks that have been raging in France over the past two years.
Left: Fernando Botero, Maternity (2003). Bartoux Gallery, Paris
According to the surveillance cameras, the bearded thief stroked the 10-kilogram statue of Botero, then looked back, took it off the pedestal and cautiously headed for the exit. There were no alarms.
Employees of the gallery Bartoux discovered the loss only when the gallery closed on Saturday evening.
85-year-old Fernando Botero – the most famous Latin American artist. He is famous for his slightly surreal and often comical voluminous figures, which became his distinctive sign. The stolen sculpture is executed in the same typical manner. Its cost is not less than 425 thousand euros (slightly more than 490 thousand dollars).
