13 MARCH 1926, Page 5

There have been strange thefts lately of pictures— four small

pictures by Constable from the National Gallery and one by Birket Foster from the Guildhall . Art Gallery. The Constables were apparently stolen by a visitor in broad daylight. Three of the Constables and the Birket Foster were returned through the post to the Daily Mail. The pictures, though packed with the most callous carelessness, have not been seriously damaged. The mystery is that thieves should steal well-known pictures which it must be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to sell.