The RCMP in Nova Scotia are asking for the public’s help over the theft of two Maud Lewis paintings.
Police say the stolen paintings are each valued at about $20,000, and the public’s help is needed to find who took them.
The paintings were stolen from a home in Smiths Cove, N.S. back in September, and police say nothing else was taken.
“Police have continued to investigate the matter and followed up on information as it has been received, however Digby RCMP is appealing to the public for information relating to these two paintings,” a statement read on Monday.
The work of Nova Scotia folk artist Maud Lewis is known for its lively depictions of rural life, which gained her national and international recognition towards the end of her life and in the decades after her death in 1970.
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Her works largely feature sights she would have seen around her tiny home in Marshalltown, near Digby, N.S.
Her paintings, which once sold for as little as two dollars, have become prized in recent years, in part as a result of the 2016 biopic “Maudie,” which rekindled interest in her story.
Though the works are joyful, Lewis’s life was marked by poverty, health issues and poor treatment from her loved ones.
Born in 1903, she lived most of her life in pain from rheumatoid arthritis, which left her hands gnarled and limited her ability to paint.
Police say anyone who has information on this incident is asked to contact the Digby RCMP or anonymously call Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers.
-With files from the Canadian Press.