Dutch police arrest a suspect in a botched art heist of Andy Warhol screenprints

A man takes an image of a screen print depicting Queen Elizabeth II, one in a series of sixteen prints of four queens titled Reigning Queens, 1985, by Andy Warhol at museum Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -

Police arrested a 23-year-old man Tuesday on suspicion of involvement in a botched art heist at a gallery in the southern Netherlands targeting four valuable Andy Warhol screenprints.

The arrest came days after thieves blew open the door of an art gallery in the town of Oisterwijk last week and stole two works from a famous series of Warhol screen prints of the former queens of the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Denmark and Swaziland that is now called Eswatini. Two more prints were left, badly damaged, in the street as the thieves fled.

In a brief statement, police did not say if the missing artworks were recovered in a string of raids in Oisterwijk and nearby towns and cities, including one in Belgium. A spokeswoman declined to give any more details.

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The gallery owner, Mark Peet Visser, said the stolen works had not been found, and a restorer is assessing the two damaged prints.

Last week, Visser said video footage of the heist showed that the four prints were “damaged beyond repair” by what he described as “amateurish” thieves who had to leave two of the prints behind because they didn't fit in the getaway car.

Police said the suspect, who was not identified in line with Dutch privacy rules, was detained in Berkel-Enschot, just six kilometres (four miles) from Oisterwijk.