Vincent van Gogh painting stolen from Singer Laren museum in the Netherlands

Museum directors ‘shocked and incredibly pissed off’

A painting by the famed Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh has been stolen from the Singer Laren museum in the Netherlands, said museum officials.

Thieves broke into the museum around 3.15am on Monday morning and stole the artwork featuring the vicarage garden in Nuenen in the spring of 1884, titled Spring Garden.

The painting, estimated to be worth up to £5m, was on loan to the Singer Laren museum from the Groninger Museum. No other art pieces were burgled.

The Singer Laren museum is closed during the coronavirus pandemic (AP)

General director Evert van Os said the institution that houses the collection of American couple William and Anna Singer is “angry, shocked, sad” at the theft of the painting.

The Groninger Museum, located in the northern city of Groningen, said in a statement: “The work from 1884, oil on paper on panel (marouflé), is the only painting by Van Gogh in the collection of the Groninger Museum.

“We are very shocked by this news. The investigation is currently in full swing and no more can be said about it due to the police investigation.”

Jan Rudolph de Lorm, museum director of the Singer Laren, told Dutch news site NOS he was “shocked and incredibly pissed off” by the theft.

The Singer Laren museum is currently closed under measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Before its closure, the museum was hosting an exhibition titled “Mirror of the Soul”, with works by artists ranging from Toorop to Mondrian, in cooperation with Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.