GETTY A famous Vincent Van Gogh painting that had been stolen 14 years ago has been returned

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The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said the paintings had been removed from their frames but appear to have suffered only slight damage. It was not immediately clear when they would be returned to the museum, which is the largest repository of Van Gogh's work. The paintings, "Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen" (1884/5) and "View of the Sea at Scheveningen" (1882), are both from relatively early in Van Gogh's short, tempestuous career.

Italian financial police seized "assets worth tens of millions of euros from a Camorra group involved in international cocaine trafficking", according to a statement. They said the assets included the paintings, which were "priceless". "They're safe," said Van Gogh Museum director Axel Rueger said in a statement.

GETTY The painting was stolen by the Camorra mafia group from the Van Gogh museum

"I no longer dared to hope that I could ever say that, after so many years."

I no longer dared to hope that I could ever say that, after so many years Van Gogh Museum director Axel Rueger

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi informed his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte about the police operation before the funeral in Jerusalem of former Israeli leader Shimon Peres, a source in Renzi's office said. In the 2002 heist, thieves used a ladder to climb onto the museum's roof and break into the building, escaping by sliding down a rope. Two men were later caught and convicted of the theft thanks in part to DNA evidence linking them to the scene.

GETTY This painting 'View of the Sea at Scheveningen' was also stolen

GETTY The Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen was one of the pieces to be pinched

They were sentenced to 4 years and 4 years six months, respectively, but the paintings were not recovered. The Scheveningen painting is one of only two sea scenes Van Gogh painted in Holland, and "an important example of Van Gogh's earliest painting style, in which he already appeared rather unique", the museum said. The museum said a patch of paint in the lower left corner had been chipped off.

The Real Van Gogh: The Artist And His Letters - Royal Academy Exhibition Tue, January 19, 2010 Play slideshow 1 of 20 Visitors look at Vincent Van Gogh's 'Self Portrait as an Artist', 1888, at the launch of 'The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters' exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London which opens to the public on January 23, 2010