A painting that was stolen from Russia’s Hermitage Museum in 2001 was returned Wednesday to the office of Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the country’s Communist Party.


Officials later realized it was the painting “Piscine du Harem” by French artist Jean Leon Gerome, which was stolen from the Hermitage in March 2001. The painting was valued at some $1 million.

The renowned St. Petersburg museum — housed in what was once the Winter Palace for the Russian imperial family — has been hit by a series of embarrassing art thefts.

An unknown number of the items have since be recovered by authorities.

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