ATHENS, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Three artworks made by famous European artists, including one by Pablo Picasso, were stolen on Monday morning from Greece's National Art Gallery in the center of Athens, local police said.
According to the official press statement, one or more burglars deactivated the alarm system, broke an aluminum-frame outer door and entered the exhibition hall, from where they removed Picasso's 1939 painting "Woman's head",
The work had been donated by the artist himself to the Greek people in 1949, as an honorary offer for its brave resistance during the Nazi occupation.
The burglars also fled with Dutch artist Piet Mondrian's "Mill" dated 1905, and a sketch by Italian artist Guglielmo Caccia Moncalvo which depicts San Diego de Alcala in ecstasy with Holy Trinity and the symbols of passion.
The two works had been donated to the Gallery by Greek collectors in 1963 and 1907 respectively.
The police said another painting by Mondrian was also moved, but then left behind as a guard realized a burglary was under way and began to chase the intruder.
No details were given over the value of the art works, but authorities have ordered international search to trace the paintings and launched a wide investigation to identify and arrest the perpetrators, examining footage from the Gallery's surveillance cameras.
