Priceless Rembrandts recovered in undergrowth after raid at London gallery

Two priceless Rembrandt paintings have been recovered from shrubbery in south London, after police helped foil a burglary at the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

The break in occurred on Wednesday night just before midnight at the gallery which has been hosting a Rembrandt exhibition, featuring several priceless works by the Dutch master.

Although police and the gallery refused to confirm which works had been targeted, the exhibition included some of his most famous canvases, including Girl at a Window and 34 other iconic paintings, etchings and sketches some on loan from the The Louvre in Paris and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Police were initially called at 11.30pm on Wednesday to reports of an alarm being triggered at the gallery, which has been the scene of a number of thefts down the years.

When officers arrived they discovered that an intruder had forced his way into the building and had removed two works of art from the walls.

Officers began searching the grounds and gave chase after spotting the suspect close by.

As they challenged him however he turned and sprayed one of the officers in the face with an unknown substance before making his escape.

The officer, who was unhurt, then began searching the grounds and discovered one of the paintings abandoned close by.

A short time later the other missing painting was found hidden in shrubbery within the grounds of the gallery.

In a statement a spokesman for the Dulwich Picture Gallery said: "Last night intruders attempted to remove two paintings from Dulwich Picture Gallery’s 'Rembrandt’s Light’ exhibition.

"The intruders were detected by the gallery’s robust security systems and, thanks to the immediate intervention of security staff and the swift response of the Metropolitan Police, the paintings were secured at the scene.

"The exhibition and gallery will remain closed until further notice, to allow the police to conduct a full investigation into the incident."

Detective Inspector Jason Barber from the Flying Squad said: “This was an audacious attempted burglary and was clearly planned in advance.

"Two paintings in the exhibition were targeted and it was only down to the prompt response of gallery security staff and the courage and swift intervention of officers that these two works of art were not stolen.

"Thankfully both the paintings were quickly recovered and secured. Our enquiries now centre on finding whoever was responsible for this crime and I would ask anyone with information to call police.”