Thieves steal Andy Warhol print of Queen Elizabeth II in Netherlands - but botch heist

“Amateurish” thieves have made off with a screen print of Queen Elizabeth II by Andy Warhol as part of a botched gallery heist in the Netherlands.

The thieves blew open the doors of the gallery and stole two works by the iconic American pop artist, according to gallery owner Mark Peet Visser.

Another two prints were left badly damaged on the street after the thieves discovered they did not fit in the getaway car, he added.

The robbery was captured on security cameras, said Mr Visser, who described the whole affair as “amateurish”.

The gallery owner said that “the bombing was so violent that my entire building was destroyed” and nearby shops were also damaged.

“So they did that part well, too well actually,” he added.

“And then they ran to the car with the prints and they turned out not to fit in the car.

“At that moment the works are ripped out of the frames and you also know that they are damaged beyond repair, because it is impossible to get them out undamaged.”

The thieves struck early on Friday at the MPV Gallery in Oisterwijk, the Netherlands.

Mr Visser said they tried to steal four works from a 1985 Warhol series called Reigning Queens.

The series included portraits of the then queens of Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Swaziland, now called Eswatini.

The thieves made off with the portraits Queen Elizabeth II and Margrethe II of Denmark, Mr Visser said.

But the prints of Queen Beatrix of the The Netherlands and Ntombi Tfwala, now known as the Queen Mother of Eswatini, were abandoned.

Mr Visser has not attached any value to the signed and numbered works, which would go on sale later this month as part of an art fair.

Forensic experts have searched the badly damaged gallery and the Dutch police are looking for witnesses.