'He was bored - I wanted to give him a second life': Luxembourger convicted of stealing marble bust from Louvre

An unusual case of cultural theft has ended with a court verdict in Épinal, France: A 50-year-old Luxembourger was found guilty of stealing a 19th-century bust stored in the historic Calodaé baths and fined €9,000. The prosecutor's office had demanded a year's suspended sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros.

The story is both perplexing and ironic. The 80kg marble bust, valued at €30,000, had been in the Louvre's custody since 1934. At the time of the theft, it was in a building closed for renovation, where a man broke in with a trolley and took away not only the sculpture, but also 12 plastic chairs, a mattress, the Plombières town plan and a painting of baths.

During interrogation, the accused - a former director of a boiler company - assured that he had not acted for profit, but under the influence of a "fit of feelings". He stated:  "He was abandoned, he was beautiful and bored. I wanted to give him a second life." Originally, he said, the bust was planned to be placed on the dog's grave.

An expert examination revealed bipolar disorder and a disconnection from reality, which the court partially took into account by recognising diminished sanity. However, the prosecutor's office doubted the spontaneity of the act, pointing to the systematic nature of the actions: the man avoided damaging the statue and took precautions to remain unnoticed.

After the incident, all the Louvre exhibits in the thermae were moved to a secure storage facility. The court sentenced the accused without imprisonment, but the case will remain in the archives of French justice as one of the most bizarre "thefts out of compassion".