Five Levitans stolen from art museum

Five Levitans have been stolen from the architecture and art museum in Plyos, a beautiful town on the Volga, where the famous Russian painter Isaak Levitan worked in 1988-90. "Thieves penetrated into the museum through a window last night and stole five of Levitan's paintings, including "Roses, "A Quiet Pool" and "A Quiet River," Svetlana Shmelyova, head of the regional government's Culture and Cultural Heritage Department, told Interfax. The cost of the paintings is estimated at 77 million rubles, she said. The fire alarm and security systems were fully operational and met all present-day standards, Shmelyova said.