BRITAIN: Stolen paintings worth £1 million may have been taken to highlight poor security at a British gallery, sources close to the investigation said yesterday.
Three pictures by van Gogh, Picasso and Gauguin were discovered yesterday rolled up in a tube behind a public toilet after a tip-off.
The sources said a message was found with the pictures. It said the theft was intended to highlight what it called poor security at the nearby Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, from which the paintings were taken at the weekend. Police confirmed a message had been found but refused to comment on its content. They had earlier said the theft was "well-planned".
Experts from the Whitworth, one of Manchester's foremost galleries, are examining the pictures to verify they are Vincent van Gogh's The Fortifications of Paris with Houses, Pablo Picasso's Poverty and Paul Gauguin's Tahitian Landscape. It is feared they may have been damaged by heavy rain. The Whitworth was not available to comment.