Thieves steal 17th century Dutch paintings worth $13 million The robbers took 15 to 20 paintings from the Westfries Museum The Associated Press Originally published January 10, 2005, 9:54 AM EST HOORN, Netherlands -- Thieves broke into a museum in the northern Netherlands and stole a series of 17th century Dutch paintings worth an estimated $13 million, the Westfries Museum said Monday. The robbers took 15 to 20 paintings and a substantial portion of the 125 year-old museum's silver collection on Sunday night without setting off the alarm, a statement said. Among the stolen works were paintings by Jan van Goyen, Jacob Waben, Matthias Withoos, Jan Rietschoof, Jan Linsen and Herman Henstenburg. "The heart of our collection is gone, including top artworks of national importance. They were mostly unique pieces which are irreplaceable," the museum statement said. The museum said its advanced security system had been checked on Thursday and that it could not explain how it had been possible. Employees discovered the theft Monday morning when they found smashed display cases, broken doors and empty frames. http://www.baltimoresun.com/ _________________________ Museum Security Network http://www.museum-security.org/ [log in to unmask] Archive Cultural Property Protection http://te.verweg.com/pipermail/cpprot/ Archive Museum Security Network http://te.verweg.com/pipermail/msn-list/ _________________________ ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).