Pop art trashed – literally – in Dutch town hall move

A southern Dutch municipality said it "most likely" accidentally dumped 46 precious artworks, including one by Pop Art master Andy Warhol, during a town hall renovation last year.

The Maashorst municipality said the works, including a rare 1980s Warhol silkscreen print of the country's former monarch Princess Beatrix, disappeared during work on the town hall in Uden, when that borough was incorporated into a new local administration.

"It's most likely that the artworks were accidentally taken away with the trash," the Maashorst municipality said in a statement.

The artworks were stored in a basement during the renovations "but researchers concluded that they were not handled with care", local broadcaster Omroep Brabant reported.

When the new Maashorst municipality wanted to take an inventory of the paintings, it found that dozens were missing.

Criminal charges were laid and the municipality employed an independent investigations agency to ascertain what happened to the artworks. The agency concluded there were several reasons why the artworks could have landed in the dustbin.

"Ownership was not properly established, no policies and procedures were established regarding the renovation and insufficient action was taken when the artworks turned out to be missing," it said.

"Nor were there any guidelines for the registration, storage, conservation and security of the artworks," it added.

The Maashorst municipality said it was unlikely that the artworks will ever be found.

"This is not how you treat valuable items," said Maashorst's mayor Hans van der Pas. "But it happened. We regret that."