Tourists unwittingly steal £250,000 statue
Two British tourists were left stunned after they stole a statue in a fit of pique, while unaware of its true value.
The Times reports that two “unnamed” Britons decided to take a small statue from their hotel in Rio de Janeiro because they felt the service they had received had not been up to scratch. What they did not know was that the Art Nouveau sculpture of a woman with wings was a national treasure, worth £250,000, and was on loan from Brazil’s Museum of Fine Art.
Unsurprisingly the owners of the five-star Copacabana Palace hotel soon noticed the disappearance and contacted police, who immediately contacted the UK force, which sent officers to meet the flight at Heathrow. The statue was discovered wrapped in a towel (not from the hotel) in a suitcase.
An airport source told the newspaper: “When they were stopped they were stunned. They just thought it was a cheap old statue. They could not believe it when they were told it was worth £250,000 – they were very apologetic.” The two men have been released on police bail, The Times reports.
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