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Questions raised over security following Rembrandt raid at Dulwich gallery

Police are continuing to investigate the attempted theft  - JULIAN SIMMONDS
Police are continuing to investigate the attempted theft - JULIAN SIMMONDS

The attempted theft of two priceless Rembrandt paintings on loan to a south London gallery, could put other institutes off lending famous works of art in the future, experts have warned.

Police are continuing to hunt a thief who broke into the Dulwich Picture Gallery late on Wednesday night and removed two works by the Dutch Master.

The thief managed to get out of the building with the paintings, before being challenged by police who were responding to an alarm that had been triggered.

Both paintings, which were on loan to the gallery, were later recovered from the grounds of where they had been dumped by the fleeing burglar.

The gallery has praised its "robust" security system for preventing the theft, but art experts have said the break in is a cause for major concern and could make other institutes reluctant to loan works of art in the future.

The attempted raid took place at Dulwich Picture Gallery on Wednesday night
The attempted raid took place at Dulwich Picture Gallery on Wednesday night

Bendor Grosvenor, an art historian, and presenter of the BBC's Britain's Lost Masterpieces, said: "If a thief managed to get into the building, remove two paintings and then get out again before being caught, something is rather badly wrong with the security at the gallery.

"Either they do not have enough people guarding the building or the systems in place did not work well enough.

"I am sure the galleries that have loaned items to Dulwich will want to know exactly what has happened and I doubt if they are going to be falling over themselves to loan priceless items out again until they have been reassured this sort of thing won't happen again."

The gallery had been hosting a major Rembrandt exhibition
The gallery had been hosting a major Rembrandt exhibition

Dick Ellis, an art crime investigator, who was the head of Scotland Yard's antiquities squad, said it was good news that the works had been recovered and the thief had been challenged, but said it was worrying that he had managed to get into the building in the first place.

He said: "Any gallery loaning an important work to another will very much have security in mind.

"They will often inspect the security arrangements themselves to ensure it meets with their own expectations.

"Dulwich Picture Gallery underwent a major refurbishment and all the security will have been updated. But I would describe this as a limited success in that the thief was challenged, but not before getting inside and removing the paintings."

A spokesman for the gallery said: "We stand by our statement that our security system is state of the art and extremely robust. The security system was recently certified by the Arts Council."