Picasso Painting Stolen in 2012 Art Heist Possibly Found Buried in Romania

Did a famous Pablo Picasso painting stolen from the Netherlands during a robbery six years ago mysteriously turn back up in Romania?

That's what prosecutors are working to determine.

A painting that appears to be the 1971 "Tête d’Arlequin" ("Harlequin’s Head"), which was taken from Rotterdam’s Kunsthal museum in 2012, was recently turned into the Netherlands embassy in Romania, prosecutors said. 

Two Dutch citizens brought the painting to the embassy in Bucharest, saying they found the work buried in the ground.

The painting was originally stolen in a heist along with six other works of art by Picasso, Matisse and Monet, among others. The paintings together are worth millions.

Although the leader of the heist and his accomplices, all Romanian, were convicted of the thefts in 2013, none of the paintings were ever recovered. Some of the artwork was thought to have been destroyed to get rid of evidence. 

"Anti-organized crime prosecutors are investigating the circumstances under which a painting signed by Picasso worth roughly 800,000 euros ($913,440) was found on Saturday evening in Tulcea county," prosecutors said in a statement. 

Authorities said they are currently working to authenticate the art piece. 

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