Watch an Art Thief in Action

All it took was a few sturdy swings with a sledgehammer and a prized painting by Vincent van Gogh was gone, per the AP. A Dutch crime-busting television show has aired security camera footage showing how an art thief smashed his way through reinforced glass doors at a museum in the early hours of March 30. He later hurried out through the museum gift shop with a Vincent van Gogh painting tucked under his right arm and the sledgehammer in his left hand. (See the video here.) Nobody has been arrested in the theft and the painting, which was on loan from another Dutch museum, the Groninger Museum, is still missing.

Police withheld other footage from inside the museum in Laren, a town east of Amsterdam, to protect their investigation. They also did not air video from outside the museum of the thief leaving. The Singer Laren managing director, Evert van Os, stressed the footage did not show all of the burglary. “The burglar broke through a number of doors and several layers of security that had been approved by security experts,” Van Os said. “The footage released does not therefore allow any conclusions to be drawn as to the quality of security at Singer Laren.” Police said 56 tips streamed in from the public as a result of the show. Police are also seeking information about a white van filmed driving past the museum. (More Vincent Van Gogh stories.)