Vincent van Gogh’s “The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring 1884 ”
DNA left behind at two recent art heists has connected Mils M. (his full name undisclosed due to Dutch privacy laws) to the theft of two notable works of art. At one location, his DNA was found on a broken picture frame discarded in the parking lot of the Singer Laren Museum. The frame belonged to The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring by Vincent van Gogh painted in 1884, valued at $2.9 million. At the other, his DNA was found on an orange tension strap tied to a flagpole outside the Museum Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden, in Leerdam. It was there that Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer by the 17th-century Dutch painter Frans Hals was stolen, valued between $11.7 – $17.6 million. Mils M. denies involvement in the two heists and authorities fear that both works have entered the black market.
Source: A Broken Frame, and DNA Traces, Led to Arrest in van Gogh Theft – The New York Times