The 1877 painting "Les Choristes" (The Chorus Singers) by Edgar Degas, seen in this picture provided by the French Customs on February 23, 2018, was found during a routine check on a bus at a highway rest area east of Paris on February 16, 2018. The pastel, depicting a line of men singing in the opera Don Juan, was stolen nine years ago from a museum in Marseille. Douane Francaise/Handout via Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - French customs police have found a painting by 19th century master Edgar Degas that was stolen nine years ago from a museum in Marseille in the luggage compartment of a bus near Paris, the government said on Friday.

Degas’ 1877 painting Les Choristes, or The Chorus Singers, is done in pastels and depicts a line of men singing in the opera Don Juan.

The police were making random checks on a bus at a highway rest area about 30 kilometers (19 miles) east of Paris on Feb. 16 when they found it and the Orsay museum confirmed its authenticity, the culture and budget ministers said in a statement.

The statement gave no information about why the painting was on the bus or who left it there.

The French artist is most famous for his paintings and sculptures of dancers and is often associated with the Impressionist movement.