The thieves steal Bruegel's masterpiece only to learn that it was a copy filed by the police

ILittle by little, it became apparent that the stolen object was a forgery and that the original had been put in a safe place.

"The original painting was replaced by a copy more than a month ago," said the mayor.

"We were hearing rumors that someone wanted to rob him, so the Carabinieri (Italian paramilitary police forces) brought the fake and installed security cameras."

The original Bruegel, which measures 43 cm by 67 cm, was stolen from the church nearly 40 years ago, but was found later after being found at the home of a convicted felon who was coming to be released from prison.

Originally purchased in Bruegel by an ambbadador from Italy to the Netherlands, the painting belonged to a family of Italian nobles for a time before being offered to the church in the nineteenth century.

The painting is a copy of a work by the artist's father, Bruegel the Elder.

Born in Brussels in 1564, Bruegel the Younger was frequently in financial difficulties and lived off the production of copies of his father's paintings.

He is nevertheless admired by contemporaries, notably Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck. His paintings are preserved at the Louvre in Paris, at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg and at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.