Prison term for Monet painting thief in Poland

[July 02, 2010]  WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- A court spokeswoman in western Poland says a man convicted in the theft of a Claude Monet painting valued at $7 million (euro5.7 million) has been handed a three-year prison term.

Agnieszka Weichert-Urban said that the regional court in Poznan sentenced the 41-year-old man on Thursday for cutting "Beach in Pourville" from its frame 10 years ago at the city's National Museum and replacing it with a cardboard copy.

The man has admitted the theft. The verdict, however, is subject to appeal.

In January, fingerprints led investigators in Poznan to the resident of the southern city of Olkusz, where the French impressionist's painting was found at his parents' home.

The painting in pastel blues and greens shows the sea lapping against a beach.

[Associated Press]

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