During a national holiday in the city of Messina on the Italian island of Sicily, four important works of art by renowned 15th-century painter Antonello da Messina were stolen from a museum.

Thieves broke into Messina’s regional museum, ‘Meow Me’, on Saturday evening, according to British newspaper The Guardian.

It is likely that the thieves took advantage of the activities of the national festival ‘Ferragasto’ celebrated in Italy on August 15 and the major religious festival ‘La Vara’ in the city.

Thieves managed to defeat the museum’s security system by breaking into a secure display box and stealing four wooden panels by the great 15th-century painter Antonello da Messina.

Among the stolen works are 3 of the 5 remaining panels of the masterpiece ‘Politico di San Gregorio’, one of Antonello da Messina’s most important works.

The director of the museum, Marisa Mercuri, described the theft as a very serious and significant loss, saying that the stolen artefacts are of immense cultural, artistic and symbolic importance not only for Messina, but for the whole of Sicily.

According to him, now the hope is that these works of art will be recovered as soon as possible.