Art officials in Ukraine are bemoaning the theft of a Caravaggio painting this week.
The chiaroscuro work, alternately known as The Taking of Christ and The Kiss of Judas, was stolen some time between Tuesday night and early Thursday morning from a museum in Odessa.
Authorities believe that the thief or thieves bypassed the outdated alarm system by removing panes of glass to enter the facility.
"The alarm did not go off because the windows had not been broken," Odessa police Chief Vladimir Bossenko told the Interfax news agency.
According to a report from Reuters, museum staffers arrived at work on Thursday to discover the late-16th century painting had been removed from its frame.
The museum was closed on Wednesday, so it is unknown exactly when the robbery took place.
Vitaly Abramov, an executive at another Odessa art museum, called the theft "a cultural catastrophe" and "a national tragedy."
The value of the painting is unknown, however a version of the same artwork hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin.
Though the authenticity of the painting has been questioned (it was considered a version by a student of Caravaggio's), a Soviet art expert declared in 1950 that the work was indeed one by the Italian Baroque master.
The painting, which depicts Jesus being dragged by soldiers after being kissed by his disciple Judas, underwent restoration in 2006.
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