The 30th item stolen from the Hermitage Fine Arts Museum in St. Petersburg – a silver jar with an ivory handle enclosed with turquoise - has been returned to the city police by a local private collector on the condition of anonymity, a city police source told Itar-Tass on Sunday.

The item’s cost is estimated at $3,000-4,000. The Hermitage received the jar from the State Revolution Museum. There is information that it was property of Nicholas II.

The theft of 221 Hermitage items worth of over 130 million rubles was exposed in an inspection, and a criminal case was opened this August. The investigation is still in progress, as the Prosecutor General’s Office has extended its period until December 31, 2006. Thirty items have been returned to the museum. Two suspects are in custody.

A police source said earlier they had received information about the whereabouts of about 70 items, but some items might have been sold abroad.

News source: www.itar-tass.com
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