Rembrandt drawing stolen from hotel

A drawing by Rembrandt, valued at $250,000 (£152,000) has been stolen from a hotel in California.

The pen-and-ink drawing, called The Judgment, was snatched on Saturday while a curator was distracted by a guest at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey.

"When the curator turned back to the Rembrandt, it was gone," Steve Whitmore, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman, said. He described it as being "a well-thought-out, well-executed theft".

Investigators were studying surveillance video from the hotel and officials asked anyone who spotted anything suspicious to contact the sheriff's department. "The Ritz-Carlton has some of the best hotel security in the nation," Mr Whitmore said. "We're confident that our leads and the surveillance video will help us solve this."

The drawing was part of an exhibit at the hotel. AP