Artwork stolen from Schevening hotel; Man walked out with 50 kg statue in suitcase

The police are looking for a man who committed a remarkable theft at the Kurhaus hotel in Scheveningen. In broad daylight, the man put a rare statue weighing over 50 kilograms into his suitcase and walked out without anyone noticing, The Hague police said on the investigation program Team West. The statue, worth 15,000 euros, is still missing.

The theft happened on April 10. Surveillance camera footage shows the man walking into the luxurious hotel with his suitcase at around 7:25 p.m. He walked straight into the Kurzaal, where the valuable statue stood on a pedestal. He walked around for a while, and when no one was looking, he opened his suitcase, put the statue inside it, and walked out of the hotel as if nothing had happened.

The involved statue is called Paardenkracht (Horse Power) by the Belgian sculptor Jan Desmarets. According to the police, there are only eight of these statues worldwide. Last year, a Desmarets statue worth 6,000 euros was stolen from the hotel, so it was likely a targeted action. This is supported by the fact that Paardenkracht was not the most expensive work on display during the theft.

“It’s just unbelievable what happened,” Doret Huibers of the art gallery in the hotel told Team West. She manages the collection of Gallery Bell’arte, which has been located in the Kurhaus since 2015. “It is a unique piece. We would really like to have it back.”