Four artworks vanish from French parliament

Four works of art have vanished from the walls of France's national assembly, parliamentary officials said Wednesday, prompting a police investigation to track them down.

Confirming a report by the Canard Enchaine investigative newspaper, the speaker's office said the four artworks had been discovered missing after an annual inventory at the end of last year.

"Searches up until now have not allowed us to locate them," the office said, adding the artworks had been "hanging on the walls of offices" in the lower house of parliament on the southern bank of the River Seine in Paris.

They include a piece by the Greek artist Takis which belongs to France's National Contemporary Art Fund, paintings by French modern artists Herve Telemaque and Richard Texier, and an engraving by an unknown artist.

A legal complaint has been filed and a police source told AFP that investigators from the Banditry Repression Brigade in Paris, which handles art theft, have taken up the case.