Aurélie Filippetti, Minister of Culture and Communication, welcomes the restitution to the municipalities owners of several works of art (12th to 17th centuries), stolen in 2007 and 2008 in churches in Auvergne and Haute-Haute-Normandy and recently recovered thanks to the combined efforts of the Belgian Federal Police, investigators of the Central Office for Combating Trafficking in Cultural Property and services of the Ministry of Culture and Communication.

After the arrest of the alleged perpetrator in June 2008, several works rediscovered in France were returned to their owners on 30 June 2010 at the premises of the Central Office for Combating Trafficking in Cultural Property (OCBC). At the same time, an investigation conducted by the OCBC and the Belgian federal police resulted in the seizure in Belgium and the return of the States-Unis and London of 20 stolen works of which 7 were presented in the salons of the Ministry of Culture and Communication on the occasion of the European Heritage Days 2012.

The identification of these properties was made possible thanks to the photographic documentation gathered by the curators of antiquities and art objects of the departments concerned and the media library of architecture and heritage. This documentation is available to the investigation services as soon as the flights are announced, and recorded in the TREIMA database, OCBC’s stolen objects database.

The return of the works to their original buildings will be preceded by work of securing and restoration, some statues having unfortunately suffered major mutilations during the theft. These measures will be supported by the regional cultural affairs directorates (regional conservations of historical monuments) and the general councils of the departments concerned.

This case is emblematic of the permanent cooperation of all French actors (ministries in charge of Culture, Interior, Justice, Economy and Finance through the customs service and the judicial agent of the State...) and foreign partners in the fight against illicit trafficking of cultural property.

This is a priority action of the policy of the Ministry of Culture and Communication, both in terms of prevention of theft and awareness of all actors of the art market.

The Ministry of Culture and Communication underlines the steady decline in the incidents of cultural property theft and notes, in recent years, the speed with which investigations are conducted and objects found and returned.