Stolen paintings recovered

Three valuable paintings stolen from a British art collection have suffered minor damage but will be back on display soon, the gallery said Tuesday.

The paintings, by Van Gogh, Gauguin and Picasso, were recovered Monday after having been stolen from Manchester’s Whitworth gallery over the weekend.

Worth $1.6 million, they spent a rainy night rolled up in a tube outside a disused public toilet close to the gallery.

Van Gogh’s “The Fortifications of Paris with Houses,” Picasso’s “Poverty” and Gauguin’s “Tahitian Landscape” were apparently stolen from the gallery in a bid to show up security.

A note with the pictures, which were found after a tip-off, said: “The intention was not to steal, only to highlight the woeful security.”