Paintings found decade after Hoorn museum burglary

Art theft investigator Arthur Brand has received a photo of a 1629 painting by Jan Linsen which was stolen, along with 22 other paintings, from the Westfries Museum in 2005. Brand says that the 23 paintings that were stolen from the museum in Hoorn still exist and are in the hands of a criminal gang. He says that such a gang often does not know what to do with the paintings, as they cannot be sold. They make contact with Brand to get rid of them. Often the owners of the stolen goods are not the actual thieves. Museum director Ad Geerdink said that "seeing is believing". Though after ten years of tips that led nowhere, there is now some new hope.