"La Saliera"
© AFP/File Dieter NaglVIENNA (AFP) - The 16th-century gold-and-enamel sculpture, representing the goddess of agriculture Ceres and the god of the sea Neptune, was found Saturday in a box buried in a forest northwest of Vienna, police said at a press conference in Vienna.
The alleged thief was an alarm-systems engineer who first saw "La Saliera" on a guided tour of Vienna's art history Kunsthistorisches Museum and thought he could easily bypass the security system and steal the precious sculpture, criminal police chief Ernst Geiger said.
Police have identified the man only as Robert M., 50, and said he has confessed, according to the Austrian news agency.
Weeks later, the alleged thief, while drunk, saw scaffolding on the outside of the building and decided on an impulse to steal the sculpture, police said.
The alleged thief climbed to the first-floor gallery and then went back to his car to get a knife, police said, adding that once back on the scaffolding, he allegedly opened a window into the museum with a crowbar, cut the blind, smashed the glass case and took the sculpture.
"The alarm went off but as an alarms expert he knew he had enough time to get out," said Geiger.
Guards apparently ignored the alarm, thinking it was a false alert. The theft was only discovered four hours later by cleaning staff.
According to Geiger, the thief was unaware of the sculpture's worth until he saw a story on the news the next day.
"Apart from the financial possibilities, it was also an adventure for him," said police Major Josef Kerbl.
The alleged thief is a father of two but lives alone and has no financial difficulties, police said.
Shortly after the theft, the thief allegedly wrote to police and was then unheard of for two years, Geiger said.
In the meantime, art museum director Wilfried Seipel was led on a wild goose chase to Italy in May 2004 by a con man who claimed he was dying and wanted to return "La Saliera" as a question of honour.
Then last October, investigators received a 10-million-euro (12-million-dollar) ransom demand and a piece of the sculpture.
Following a phone call on November 7, police said they took part in a fruitless game of cat and mouse, with text messages and notes scattered around the Austrian capital.
But police said they did manage to get photographs of the suspect, which they released Friday.
The alleged thief called police to turn himself in after friends recognized him, police said.
"He was quite sure we could not prove anything against him," said Kerbl.
But police searched the alleged thief's flat and said they found evidence.
The alleged thief decided to return the sculpture, knowing "he could get away with a minor sentence", said Kerbl.
Saturday, the suspect led police to "La Saliera," which he had buried in a forest near the town of Zwettl, after hiding it in a suitcase under his bed in his flat in Vienna for over two years, Kerbl said.
The sculpture was well protected from dirt and snow but has suffered light damage, museum spokeswoman Irina Kubadinow said.
"La Saliera," created by the Florentine goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini for King Francois I of France, is viewed by some experts as the "Mona Lisa of sculpture".
Austrian Culture Minister Elisabeth Gehrer said at the press conference that the sculpture would be back on display at the art museum but she did not say exactly when.
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