NEW YORK – A sticky-fingered art thief strolled through the Upper East Side's famed Carlyle hotel and walked off with a painting worth $350,000, the New York Post reported Wednesday, citing police sources.
A worker told authorities that the Fernand Leger ink-on-linen work disappeared between 3:00am and 5:00am local time Tuesday from the hotel's Helly Nahmad Gallery.
Video surveillance shows a man walking into the Madison Avenue hotel, then coming out a short time later with a bag that was not visible on the first video clip.
Sources said the crook probably stuffed the 10-inch by 8-inch (25 centimeter x 20 centimeter) painting into a bag. Authorities said the thief got into a car and drove off.
The 1917 work of art, "Composition aux element mecaniques," was painted by Leger, a 20th-century French artist important in the Cubist movement.
There have been no arrests.
The Carlyle is a favored crash pad of aristocrats and stars. France's glamorous first lady, Carla Bruni, stayed there last year.
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