Lane of Poplars at Moret (1890) is arguably irresistible to thieves, as its August, 2007 removal from the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nice marks the third time it has been stolen within thirty years.
Previously taken with Monet's Cliffs Near Dieppe (1897) in the 1998 robbery, Lane of Poplars... was also the target of a 1978 heist. On loan to an exhibition in Marseilles at that time, it was snatched and recovered within days. Though the canvas had been hidden in a Marseilles municipal water drain (or sewer, dependent on one's grasp of French), it suffered minimal damage and was quickly restored.
About the Theft:
At about 1:00 PM on Sunday, August 5, 2007, five masked and armed robbers entered the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nice. Within ten minutes, they escaped with four important paintings including one Monet, one Sisley and two Allegories by the Flemish Baroque painters Jan Brueghel the Elder and Hendrik van Balen the Elder. A fifth painting (a Sisley) was damaged and left behind when it was found to be too large to fit in the bags the thieves had brought.
Update, June 5, 2008: All four paintings were recovered from a utility vehicle in the port city of Marseilles by French police. Ten arrests have been made thus far.