A stolen art collection worth an estimated €300,000 was discovered in a Marsa warehouse after police tracked down the man they believe stole the artworks from an iconic Balzan palazzo.

Police sources said the collection of valuable Maltese classical paintings had been reported stolen by the elderly owner of a large palazzo near the Balzan church last month.

Sources involved in the investigation said the elderly woman, who is in her 80s, had only discovered that several paintings were missing from the third floor of her large home when third parties planning to buy the property had looked around the sprawling building a few weeks ago. 

The elderly woman never used the third floor of her property, sources said, as her frail condition made climbing the stairs a hefty task.

“At first she had no idea who could have stolen the pieces of art from under her nose, but eventually she gave us a good lead and our investigations led us all the way to the paintings,” the sources said. 

They explained that the elderly woman had told the police about a Maltese man who had been visiting her and “always coming up with reasons to enter her house”.

He would then scramble up the stairs and into the room where the art was hanging while she made him a cup of tea or popped into the bathroom, the sources said. 

Police said the man had been identified following a few days of intensive inquiries and had a lucky break when they spotted one of the paintings during a visit to the man’s home.

The treasure trove of canvases was discovered once investigators later learned of the Marsa hideaway. The man was subsequently arrested.

At the start of the investigation, the police sources said they were concerned that they might not get far, as they did not have an idea of what the stolen paintings looked like. They said they were only given an inventory of the items, with no visuals to refer to.

The palazzo owner’s family eventually found a photograph taken in the room where most of the paintings used to hang, which helped the police identify them.

Sources said the recovered paintings were still held by the police as evidence and the investigation was still ongoing.