MONET PAINTING STOLEN 10 YEARS AGO RECOVERED IN POLAND

A MONET PAINTING THAT WAS CUT FROM ITS FRAME 10 YEARS AGO AT A MUSEUM IN WESTERN POLAND AND REPLACED WITH A COPY PAINTED ON CARDBOARD HAS BEEN RECOVERED, POLICE SAID WEDNESDAY. OFFICERS ALSO ARRESTED A SUSPECT WHO HAD THE FRENCH IMPRESSIONIST'S 'BEACH IN POURVILLE' IN HIS POSSESSION AND CONFESSED TO STEALING IT. POZNAN POLICE SPOKESMAN ROMUALD PIECUCH SAID THAT OFFICIALS DETAINED THE 41 YEAR OLD MAN IN THE SOUTHERN CITY OF OLKUSZ TUESDAY. FINGERPRINTS AND OTHER TRACES LEFT AT THE SITE OF THE THEFT HELPED IDENTIFY THE SUSPECT, PIECUCH SAID. PIECUCH SAID THE PAINTING WAS BROUGHT TO THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN POZNAN, WHERE EXPERTS WERE TO VERIFY ITS AUTHENTICITY. 'WE HAVE GREAT HOPE THAT IT IS OUR STOLEN PAINTING', MUSEUM SPOKESMAN ALEKSANDRA SOBOCINSKA SAID. THE PAINTING, WHICH SHOWS THE SEA LAPPING AGAINST A BEACH IN PASTEL BLUES AND GREENS, WAS VALUED AT $1 MILLION AT THE TIME OF ITS THEFT. SOBOCINSKA SAID SHE DID NOT HAVE AN ESTIMATE OF ITS CURRENT VALUE, BUT SAID THAT 'TO US IT WAS A PRICELESS MASTERPIECE.'