[MSN] False Alarm: No Paintings Stolen From McCartney Estate

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

False Alarm: No Paintings Stolen From McCartney Estate

(andPOP) - Former Beatle Paul McCartney and estranged wife Heather Mills' divorce just keeps getting uglier and uglier.

On Thursday night, Mills called police to report the theft of paintings - worth an estimated $19.5 million - from the country estate the couple once shared. They included works by Picasso and Renoir.

"We checked the premises, and spoke to Heather Mills, and as a result it was found to be a civil matter between her and her husband," Sussex Police spokesman Paddy Rea said. "There's been no theft."

The Sun newspaper reported on Friday that McCartney had taken the paintings and reprogrammed the lodge's alarm codes and only text messaged his wife about it Thursday night.

McCartney and his wife announced their separation in May and began divorce proceedings in July. Ever since, the two have been throwing verbal attacks at each other in the media.

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