In 2012, art thieves broke into the Greek National Museum and stole three valuable paintings. The most famous painting pilfered during the seven-minute theft was Pablo Picasso's "Woman's Head" which the artist gave as a gift to the Greek people for their persistent fight against fascism.
The other two works were an early landscape painted by Piet Mondrian and a sketch by the Italian 16th century artist Guglielmo Caccia, better known as Moncalvo.
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The theft occurred during the last day of an exhibition that showed works by greats such as Rembrandt and Albrecht Dürer. The thieves eluded the museum's security guards by triggering the alarm on several occasions in a row.
Already in February this year, the police received indications that the artworks remained in Greece, which again intensified the search.
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Two of the three paintings were found wrapped in a crevice under a bush after a 49-year-olds suspect was arrested and confessed to the crimes. At the same time he pronounced his love of art, perhaps in the hope of a milder sentence.
The two paintings are now back at the museum, which opened in March after nine years of renovations, while the third painting, the sketch by Moncalvo, is unfortunately said to have been destroyed.
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"Picasso dedicated the painting to the Greek people. A Greek stole it. Greeks took it back," said Greek Minister of Civil Protection Michalis Chrisochoidis in a press conference.
It is the second victory for both Greece and in particular the Greek police, who recently also recovered a stolen sculpture from Roman antiquity.
