AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A painting by Frans Hals has been stolen from a small museum in the Netherlands, police said on Thursday.
The painting, “Two Laughing Boys” dating from 1626, was taken from the Hofje van Aerden Museum in a town near Utrecht before dawn on Thursday, Dutch police said in a statement.
Police were alerted when thieves forced the museum’s back door, triggering alarms.
A spokesman for the museum referred all questions to the police.
The museum had been closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
