[MSN] DRUNKEN itinerants in Darwin are suspected of carrying out a brazen museum robbery and walking away with Aboriginal art worth more than $500, 000.

[MSN]

'Drunks' pull off $500,000 artwork heist
By Tara Ravens
April 01, 2008 06:07pm

DRUNKEN itinerants in Darwin are suspected of carrying out a brazen museum
robbery and walking away with Aboriginal art worth more than $500,000.

Seven paintings were stolen from the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern
Territory in Darwin early today, only to be found in bushland less than 400
metres away about eight hours later.

The paintings were undamaged.

"Well, it's not an April Fools' Joke, it has just been a rather excessive
occurrence, an extreme occurrence," museum director Anna Malgorzewicz said.

And despite the happy ending, she said the robbery was no laughing matter. 

"I think everyone at the museum is feeling the drain of today's emotions and
stresses," she said of the museum's first break-in. 

Police believe that shortly after 4am (CST) today, a 37-year-old man and
another person used a rock to smash a window at the rear of the museum,
setting off alarms.

But by the time police arrived 15 minutes later, the thieves had escaped
with six Papunya Tula board paintings from the Western Desert and a central
Australian watercolour.

The pair, who police suspect were drunk, left behind fingerprints, video
footage and spots of blood, presumably after one of the thieves cut
themselves while escaping through the broken window.

The 37-year-old homeless man was later arrested at a bus stop in a nearby
suburb and took detectives to where the paintings had been dumped.

The paintings had been turned inwards and propped against a tree surrounded
by dense scrub.

"It appears the man was intoxicated," major crime unit officer Senior
Constable Bradley Currie said of the suspect, who was tonight in custody.

He was likely to be charged with unlawful entry, criminal damage and
stealing, police said. 
Police say they have strong leads in the search for the second suspect.

"At this stage it is the belief it was an opportunistic crime, it wasn't
organised and it was not a result of organised crime," said Const Currie.

Ms Malgorzewicz said she was "ecstatic" over the recovery of the paintings,
which are by important figures from the early 1970s period and which include
some of the first permanently recorded designs from the Western Desert
region. 

"Those works were created in the early 1970s, they are one of the first
bodies of work from that particular area so historically (they are) very
important," she said.

"They have been stressed, they are slightly soiled but they are in very good
condition."

Ms Malgorzewicz said the theft may increase the value of the paintings.

"These works our now subject to notoriety, clearly the media are very
interested in them, and the public will be very interested in them and I am
sure people will look forward to seeing the works again," she said.

Ms Malgorzewicz defended the museum's security, although staff will review
procedures tomorrow.

"All we can do is have the very best security system, which we do have," she
said.

"I don't see any room for improvement at this stage".

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