"Two Boys Laughing" painting was stolen for the third time
Police said thieves stole a painting (Two Boys Laughing) by Dutch Golden Age artist Frans Hals from a small museum near Utrecht on Thursday, the third time the painting has been theft.
The painting, estimated by an expert to be worth 15 million euros ($ 18 million) and dated back to 1626, was stolen from the Houvier van Arden Museum before dawn on Thursday after thieves managed to sneak through the back door.
This is the second case of theft of a painting from a Dutch museum closed to the public due to the Covid-19 pandemic, after a Van Gogh painting was stolen in March from the Singer Laren Museum.