Sometime after Missouri's Springfield Art Museum closed at 5 p.m. last Wednesday, seven prints from its prized collection of Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup can screen prints went missing. The complete set of prints from 1968 — not to be confused with Warhol's original set of Campbell's Soup can paintings — is estimated to be worth about $500,000 and, for the town of Springfield, Missouri, they're worth even more in sentimental value. "They were one of those kinds of 'claim to fame' types of pieces," said Lisa Coz, a spokeswoman for the Springfield Police Department.
Interestingly, the thieves only stole seven prints from the collection of 10. While the beef, vegetable, tomato, onion, green pea, chicken noodle, and black bean cans were snatched up, the thieves inexplicably left behind the pepper pot, cream of mushroom, and consommé cans, which, The New York Times reports, could hurt their ultimate sale value.
The Springfield Police Department and the FBI's Art Crime unit are investigating the theft, and the FBI is offering a $25,000 reward for the prints' recovery.
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