On this day - 23 September

The Love Letter is a painting created by Jan Vermeer around 1669-1670. It was done in oil on canvas. On September 23rd 1971 the painting was stolen while on display in Brussels, having been loaned from the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands. Mario Pierre Roymans had locked himself inside a closet until the museum shut where he took the painting, cut the canvas from its frame and escaped.

He used the painting to set conditions by contacting the local newspapers, demanding money given to Bengali refugees in Pakistan and that campaigns were organised in the Netherlands and Belgium to raise money to reduce world famine. He was caught by the police after calling a newspaper and the painting was returned to the Netherlands on October 8th.