© Police
23. 07. 12. - 18:12
Stolen statue handed in by dealer
A statue entitled the "Graf von Habsburg" that was stolen from the Sacher Hotel in May has been handed in by an art dealer after police went public with a picture of the missing work of art.
The art dealer said that he had purchased the work from two men and that he had taken a scan of the identity card of one of the men when he purchased the statue. Police did not say whether the identity card contained the information of the man who was photographed stealing the the statue from the Vienna hotel.
Police did not say how much the Vienna-based art dealer had paid for the statue. They did not say why they had kept the theft a secret but admitted they had gone public with an appeal this weekend after failing to find any trace of the missing work of art.
At the base of the 40x35x20 centimetre statue is the inscription "Der Graf von Habsburg", a part of the ballad of the same name by Friedrich Schiller.
The search for the thief believed to be between 35 and 45 years old is continuing.
Anyone with information as to the man's identity is asked to call detectives on 01/31310/62800.
