European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 13, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Short subject two italian military police carry a relic stolen from a Church in Padua and recovered by a special Art theft squad. Cameras computers used to Stop Art thefts by Brian Murphy the associated press he lock on the Church door was easily picked. With Crisp precision the thieves went to work. Renaissance paintings came Down. They took their pick from items on the altar. The looting of a Church in Sicily this Spring was a familiar crime in Italy where every year thousands More Art treasures disappear. It also posed a familiar problem for police no Good photographs or descriptions were available of the stolen objects. The chances of recovery Are slim. Authorities now Hope to get to the scene of the crime before there is one. Chiefs of a special Art theft squad have asked churches and municipal offices to Supply photos and other details of All their valuable Art work. The 200-member unit a Branch of the military police wants to add the data to the images of museum pieces and state owned antiquities in a special computer Archive. The Hope is that agents auction dealers and other officials could quickly plug into the network to discover if an item is stolen. Presently Many objects Are found but it s difficult to determine where and when they were robbed. Quot we need to know what we Are looking for Quot Roberto Conforti head of the Art theft squad said recently. The task however is daunting. There Are More than 1 million Art filled churches and offices around Italy. Antiquities Are being excavated nearly every Day from archaeological Sites and Many objects Are stolen before Good records can be taken. Quot there s no limit to what is being Italy s disappearing treasures Here is a list of some of the most significant Art works stolen in Italy and still missing Oil painting on Canvas the nativity by Caravaggio late 16th Century. Stolen in october 1969 in Palermo. Circular shaped Oil painting on Board Madonna with infant and St. Joseph and Angel by Raffaellin Del Carbo Early 16th Century. Stolen from Home in bag none in May 1984. Oil painting on Canvas Madonna with baby by Cima a Conegliano late 15th Century. Stolen december 1990 from Home in Rome. Oil painting on Board Madonna with infant and saints by Nicolodi Pietro Cerini Early 15th Century. Stolen in december 1991 from Home in Turin. Watercolour on paper path through the rocks a landscape with Lake by French impressionist Paul Cezanne late 19th Century. Stolen in january 1992 from museum in Rome. A the associated press stolen. We have to act before Art works vanish without a Trace Quot said Conforti who called up images of missing and recovered Art works on a computer. Italy is Europe s Art theft capital. Since 1970, nearly 385,000 Art objects have been reported stolen a More than one third from churches which often do not have burglar alarms or other Security systems. More than 122,000 works have been recovered since the Art theft squad started work in 1970. Last month a painting by 17th-Century dutch Painter Anton Van Dyck was found under a bed it was stolen from a sicilian Church or. 1981. In february agents recovered a unique ancient roman statue of the Empire s three main deities. The statue was taken from an archaeological site in late 1992. But for every famous Art object recovered dozens of other lesser known works remain missing with limited Chance of being found with a photo or description for identification said Conforti. Quot Italy is a huge museum he said. Quot it needs to be  Caroline Wakeford operations manager of the Art loss Register in London said interconnected t computer networks and other methods of Quick information Exchange Quot pose the biggest problem to Art  Quot to fight Art theft it s necessary to have proper information and Good information Quot said Wakeford who oversees a computer data base with 60,000 images of stolen Art. Quot the computer age gives us a better Chance to control an old crime Quot German crime corridors intersect at Wurzburg by Stephan Maurer Deutsche Prusse Agenter two German autobahn have become major crime corridors and German traffic police have set up a special task Force to fight Back. The two highways Are the a-3 and a-7, which link millions of people in the Rhine main Industrial Region and Are the North South Axis linking Northern and Southern Europe. A a Here a where you get the stolen cars the drug consignments the illegal human smuggling a says Bernhard Walter who is head of the traffic police in Wurzburg Germany located on that North South Axis. Just outside Wurzburg at a place known As the  the two routes intersect. That s where police have set up their main Quot autobahn search  plainclothes officers cruise the highways acting on tips and on their own experience for the suspicious signs that indicate stolen goods human smuggling or big time narcotics. The squad which also specializes in pouncing on gangsters at any of the Many rest stops on the routes have their specialists one knows All about document forging another about the tricks used in disguising Stolon cars another the scams used by drug gangs. All agree that the most important thing is experience. A you just get a nose for who s suspicious a Walter says. And the arrest records of one of these groups for the past year prove the Point it made 300 arrests after 2,300 vehicle searches. One group from the City of Schweinfurt even uncovered a forgery shop on wheels travelling the country putting freshly printed Bills into circulation. Even hitchhikers Aren t spared the cops attentions. The Wurzburg group recently caught a Man thumbing a lift with 5.5 pounds of hashish in his Knapsack. Scrupps Howard news so Vic police inspect a car for smuggled goods. Monday june 13, 1994 the stars and stripes 15