'No alarms' at Cairo's Van Gogh theft museum

None of the alarms and only seven of 43 surveillance cameras were working at a Cairo museum where a Vincent van Gogh painting was stolen, Egypt's top prosecutor has said.

Thieves made off with the canvas, known as Poppy Flowers or Vase with Flowers, on Saturday from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in the Egyptian capital.

Egypt's culture minister, Farouk Hosni, later had to deny his statement that the painting had been recovered at Cairo Airport a few hours after it was taken.

Prosecutor general Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud said the thieves used a craft knife to cut the painting from its frame. He said the museum's security measures, were "for the most part feeble and superficial".

He said the museum guards' rounds were inadequate and did not meet minimum security requirements to protect internationally renowned works of art.

Fifteen Egyptian officials, including the director of the museum, Reem Bahir, and the head of the fine arts department at the Ministry of Culture, have been barred from leaving Egypt until the investigation into the theft is complete, Mahmoud said.