Andy Warhol artwork of Queen Elizabeth II stolen in ‘bungled’ Dutch gallery heist

Thieves blew unfastened doors astatine the MPV Gallery successful Oisterwijk, a municipality successful the North Brabant state and made disconnected with 2 silkscreens from the iconic American popular artist’s Reigning Queens series.

Another 2 prints were near severely damaged successful the thoroughfare erstwhile criminals discovered they wouldn't acceptable successful a getaway car, assemblage proprietor Mark Peet Visser said.

Mr Visser told Dutch broadcaster NOS the works taken were of the precocious Elizabeth II and of Margrethe II, who was Queen of Denmark until her abdication earlier this year.

The burglary was captured connected information cameras, Mr Visser said, describing the full happening arsenic “amateurish”, adding: “The weaponry onslaught was truthful convulsive that my full gathering was destroyed.”

Police confirmed determination appeared to person been immoderate signifier of detonation and a batch of harm to the assemblage and adjacent stores.

Mr Visser said: “So they did that portion of it well, excessively good actually.

“And past they ran to the car with the prints and it turns retired that they won’t acceptable successful the car.

“At that infinitesimal the works are ripped retired of the frames and you besides cognize that they are damaged beyond repair, due to the fact that it is intolerable to get them retired undamaged.”

According to NOS, the 2 abandoned prints successful the 1985 bid depicted Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Queen Ntombi Tfwala of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland.

All were being kept astatine the assemblage up of the PAN Amsterdam creation just aboriginal this month, wherever they were owed to beryllium enactment up for merchantability arsenic a set.