A prized Vincent van Gogh still life was stolen from a Cairo museum on Saturday, leading to a massive art hunt, conflicting reports about the details of the crime, and plenty of finger-pointing. Five people, meanwhile, have been arrested for "negligence" in relation to the embarrassing theft, which seems to have been carried out in the absence of rudimentary security measures, according to the Agence France-Presse.

The roughly one-foot-square work, "Poppy Flowers and Vase with Flowers," was cut from its frame at the Mahmoud Khalil Museum on Saturday, authorities say. Shortly after news of its theft broke, Egypt's culture minster issued a statement claiming that an Italian couple — who had suspiciously been seen been seen "visiting a toilet" and then were seen "rapidly leaving the premises," according to the Guardian — had been apprehended for the crime, with the painting being recovered. Unfortunately, the announcement proved premature. A few hours later,the minister appeared on television to withdraw the claim. The van Gogh isstill at large.

The thief or thieves behind the burglary reportedly cut the canvas from its frame on Tuesday. According to reports, only seven of the 43 security cameras in the museum were functioning, and alarms designed to detect such a theft were not operational. Despite failing to prevent the thefts, the Egyptian government has publicly announced aggressive efforts to recover the painting. It has also banned nine officials at the museum from traveling out of the country as the search for the work continues.

Reportedly valued at about $50 million today, the van Gogh was painted in 1887, three years before the notoriously unstable artist ended his own life. Interestingly, the painting had been stolen once before, in 1978, only to be recovered two years later in Kuwait. Though three suspects were apprehended at the time, there is no indication of whether they were ever jailed.

The theft is the latest in what has been a busy year for art crimes. In May, five valuable works were snatched from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, where the alarm system reportedly was malfunctioning as well. Those pieces are also still missing.