The brazen and unusual theft of two paintings from a Somerville art exhibit this month left one local artist, and the area’s arts community, scratching their heads and looking for the public’s help in tracking the stolen pieces down.
Now a new video shared by Somerville Police on Friday shows for the first time what appears to be the suspect in the alleged small-scale art heist.
The clip, captured by security cameras in the Prospect Union Square building, appears to show a suspect wearing a hooded jacket and a face covering quickly slicing the paintings free from wall of the gallery a few minutes before 3 a.m. on Jan. 5.
The footage appears to show the suspect leaving the paintings outside the building, then returning more than half-an-hour later to put them in a dark-colored sedan before driving away.
Police are asking anyone with information about the theft to contact Detective Jonathan Thermidor at 617-625-1600 x7231.
The theft has puzzled the local arts community.
One, painter Adam Leveille, went public after learning his painting had been stolen and has asked for help in looking out for the artwork. The piece, called “Nissenbaum, midday,” was an oil-on-linen depiction of the shuttered Nissenbaum’s Auto Parts. It had been part of an exhibit in the building called Visions of Somerville, which was curated by Somerville Open Studios and highlighted the handiwork of local artists.
Leveille said the painting likely would have sold for around $2,000, but told the Globe he was primarily saddened to lose a work that held sentimental value, and also that the theft resulted in the gallery being shut down early to protect the other paintings.
Plans have been in the works to host another exhibit in the property soon, building management has said.
Spencer Buell can be reached at spencer.buell@globe.com. Follow him @SpencerBuell.