Van Gogh Painting Stolen On His Birthday As Museum Closed Due To Coronavirus

One of the paintings of famed Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh was stolen early Monday from the Netherlands' Singer Laren Museum, the day he was born on 167 years ago.

According to its website, the museum is currently closed for the public for an indefinite time due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Van Gogh's painting called "Lentetuin, the Parsonage Garden in Spring" or simply the "Spring Garden" was painted in 1884 and depicts the garden of the rectory at Nuenen, according to Deutsche Welle

The Van Gogh Museum said in a statement that Singer Laren Museum had loaned the painting from Groninger Museum. Dutch media put the painting's value between $1 million and $6 million, DW noted.

Police said that burglars entered the museum by breaking glass doors around 3 a.m. local time, as reported by DW. The Interpol has added the painting to its list of stolen artwork.

"I am shocked and incredibly pissed off," the museum's director Jan Rudolph de Lorm told Dutch public broadcaster NOS, as translated by DW. "Art is there to be enjoyed and to comfort people, especially during this difficult time."

Photo Credit: Courtesy of The Groninger Museum