French customs police have found a painting by 19th century French master Edgar Degas that was stolen nine years ago from a museum in Marseille, the government said on Friday.

The painting was found in the luggage compartment of a bus near Paris.

Degas' 1877 painting Les Choristes, or The Chorus Singers, is done in pastels and depicts a line of men singing in the opera Don Juan.

The police were making random checks on a bus at a highway rest area about 30 kilometers east of Paris on February 16 when they found it and the Orsay museum confirmed its authenticity, the culture and budget ministers said in a statement.

The statement did not give any information about why the painting was on the bus compartment or who left it there.

The French artist is most famous for his paintings and sculptures of dancers and is often associated with the Impressionist movement.