Burglars steal Van Goghs with a ladder and a rope

Thieves made off with two works by Vincent Van Gogh yesterday less than a week after millions of dollars worth of gems disappeared during a diamond exhibition at another Dutch museum.

It is the second time that the Van Gogh Museum has been burgled, all the more surprising since security was stepped up after the first break-in 10 years ago. The museum in Amsterdam boasts the world's largest Van Gogh collection, more than 200 paintings and hundreds of drawings.

The alarms went off at about 8am, two hours before the museum opens. By the time police got to the scene, the thieves had vanished, museum director John Leighton said. Police responded quickly and hoped to find the thieves still in the building. Instead they discovered a 15-foot ladder leaning against the rear of the building, as well as a rope. Apparently the thieves had climbed up to the second floor and broken in through a window.

Leighton said two oil paintings are missing, both from early periods in Van Gogh's career. They "have no market value since they were not for sale, but comparable paintings sold for several million dollars," he said.

One is the View of the Sea at Scheveningen, a small picture of a boat setting off into a stormy sea. Painted over two days in 1882, the thick paint contains grains of sand blown on to the canvas from the beach where the artist worked. It is one of his first major pieces.

The other is Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen, from 1884-85, a picture of the village church where Van Gogh's father had been a pastor. "The Reform Church was emotionally important. He probably meant it as a souvenir for his mother," Leighton said.

Both paintings are too well known to sell on the open market, but police said they may be offered for ransom. "In many cases, paintings were recovered. Sometimes it takes an eternity," a police spokesman said.

The museum first opened in 1973 near the century-old Rijksmuseum. As well as the largest Van Gogh collection, it also houses the works of other impressionists. In 1991, thieves made off with several priceless Van Goghs, including one of the famous Sunflowers paintings. All were quickly recovered. "There is a risk for every museum," Leighton said. "You can't have a Fort Knox situation. This is a public institution."

The burglary was the second high-profile heist in the Netherlands in a week, and the third this year. Last Monday, thieves raided a diamond exhibition at the Museon in The Hague, about 30 miles south of Amsterdam. Museum officials said millions of dollars worth of gems were taken. In March, five 17th century paintings were taken from the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, worth a total of $2.6m (£1.6m). In that case too, police reached the museum five minutes after the alarm went off.