Painting stolen from Paterson Museum

NEW JERSEY (FOX 5 NEWS) - Giacomo DeStefano was in disbelief when he got to work on Monday at the Paterson Museum, where he serves as director. He noticed an oil painting, appraised at $9,000, was missing from his office. 

A private collector loaned the 170-year-old painting of Paterson's Great Falls to the museum in September. DeStefano noticed it missing on the day he was going to display it publicly. He says due to low funding from the city the museum doesn't have security cameras, which could have prevented this from happening or could have at least helped police now in their investigation.

"The police department is also helping the museum as far as getting a camera system that's being installed," Paterson Police Deputy Chief Heriberto Rodriquez said. "I'd also like to mention that the mayor's office has put up $1000 reward for anyone who has information that leads to an arrest in this matter."

Cops are interviewing everyone connected to the museum. I spoke on the phone with the painting's owner who believes the thief has to be someone familiar with the museum, who knows about the lack of surveillance.