Art Heists in Italy: A Disturbing Pattern Emerges The recent theft of four Renaissance masterworks from the MuMe Regional Interdisciplinary Museum in Messina, Sicily, is a brazen reminder that even the most iconic cultural institutions are vulnerable to art thieves.
The heist occurred during Ferragosto, a major Italian holiday, when thieves exploited the city's festivities to gain access to the museum and abscond with four irreplaceable tempera on wood panels by Antonello da Messina.
The audacity of this theft is unprecedented.