[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1785313610848_WhatsApp_Image__at_.avif?w=806″]<\/p>\n
\n\tOn July 28, a group of 10 people ransacked the headquarters of the Italian fuel distribution company, Lilli Petroli, in L\u2019Aquila, located in Italy\u2019s Abruzzo region, spending as long as eight hours on the premises before making off with over \u00a34 million ($4.63 million) of art, first reported local outlet Il Centro<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tAbout 30 artworks belonging to Lilli Petroli owner Mauro Lilli were stolen in the unusual heist, including bas-reliefs attributed to Pablo Picasso, a bronze ballerina sculpture by Giacomo Manz\u00f9, paintings by Bruno d\u2019Arcevia of the Italian Manner movement, and pieces by sculptor Mario Moretto. None were ensured, and the collection had been displayed throughout the company\u2019s lobby and offices.<\/p>\n \n\tPolice told local news outlets that thieves used one of the company trucks to smash through the site\u2019s security gate and then spent eight hours combing through the building. \u201cThey made a mess,\u201d Lilli told Il Messaggero<\/em>. \u201cThey didn\u2019t spare anything,\u201d he added, noting they also damaged furniture and the floors.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not your typical theft-to-order,\u201d observed the founder of Art Recovery International, Christopher Marinello, speaking to Ocula<\/em>. \u201cIt appears to me as some sort of revenge, more of an attack on the company or Mauro Lilli himself,\u201d Marinello explained, pointing to the relatively low-tier artworks, given the high risk and organization involved. Since \u201cMauro Lilli takes great pride in his art collection \u2026 it could be a way to send a message,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tThis would contradict reported suspicions that the thieves were hired by a criminal network specializing in international art trafficking, due to \u201cthe impressive logistical organization\u201d of the brazen heist, and that the recognizable artworks may be headed to wealthy private collectors, according to Il Centro<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tLocal police and the special Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Protection Unit (TPC) are investigating the case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/was-unusual-all-night-italian-heist-a-work-of-revenge-1234794571\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1785313610848_WhatsApp_Image__at_.avif?w=806″] On July 28, a group of 10 people ransacked the headquarters of the Italian fuel distribution company, Lilli Petroli, in L\u2019Aquila, located in Italy\u2019s Abruzzo region, spending as long as eight hours on the premises before making off with over \u00a34 million ($4.63 million) of art, first reported local outlet Il Centro. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2083339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2083339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083339\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2083339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2083339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2083339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}