By Associated Press - Monday, August 23, 2010

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s state news agency reports the country’s top prosecutor has ordered a four-day detention of the deputy culture minister over the theft of a Vincent van Gogh painting.

Thieves made off with the canvas, known by the titles of “Poppy Flowers” and “Vase with Flowers,” on Saturday from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo. None of the museum’s alarms and only seven of 43 surveillance cameras were working at the time of the robbery.

On Monday, General Prosecutor Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud ordered the four-day-detention of Deputy Culture Minister Mohsen Shalaan, along with four security guards. He accused them of neglect and professional delinquency, according to Egypt’s Middle East News Agency.

No formal charges have been filed.

 

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