A work of art by a retired newspaper editor has been stolen from a restaurant in broad daylight in what may have been a case of mistaken identity.

The brazen thief struck during business hours at The Longstore, Truro, making off with a black and white drawing on canvas by veteran journalist John Marquis, who ran weeklies and dailies in the UK and abroad during his fifty-year career.

The picture, entitled One-line Sausage Dog, resembled a similar work of art of the same name by Pablo Picasso.

Luckily, the stolen picture, below, was a print and not the original.

Commented John: “Though I dislike their dishonesty, I can’t help feeling just a little bit chuffed that they considered my stuff worth stealing.

“The picture was called One-line Sausage Dog, and I’m wondering whether they thought it was by Pablo Picasso, who drew a picture with the same name.

“On the other hand, they probably recognised the picture’s enormous investment potential. It’s probably doing the rounds of the top European galleries as we speak.”

“Looking on the bright side, it boosts my street cred massively. Not only is my work worth buying, it’s worth stealing. That’s really saying something in the art world.”

John, 78, began dabbling in art work after two life-threatening operations eight years ago and has since sold his work through Cornish street markets and galleries.

During his long career, he edited both the Packet Newspapers group in Cornwall and The Tribune, the Bahamas’ leading daily.

He was also London sports editor and chief boxing writer for the Thomson newspaper group, which in those days included The Scotsman, the Western Mail, and twelve evenings.

A restaurant spokesman said: “It’s a mystery how they got away with it. They must have liked the picture a lot because they took a big risk.”