I don’t know why, but I have some fascination with stolen art. There’s even a series on Netflix called “Raiders of the Lost Art”. I’ve seen the remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” a half dozen times.
My top 3 “stolen and never recovered”…
#3: Charing Cross Bridge, London by Monet – stolen in 2012
#2: The Storm of the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt – stolen in 1990, “we know who did it” announced in 2013
#1: Le pigeon aux petits pois (The pigeon and the green peas) by Picasso – stolen in 2010. Least favorite from “I wish it were hanging in my secret study for me to endjoy” and tops from the mystery. The footage might as well be from the Thomas Crown Affair. A single thief, the skill to remove the paintings from their frame instead of the usual knife-and-run, a single smashed window and a broken padlock. All at the Paris Musée d’Art Moderne.
For a while, The Scream by Munch was on the list, but it was only missing for two years in 2004-2006.