STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. Thieves believe they got what they were looking for. They stole a painting from an Italian church. It was by the Flemish artist Pieter Brueghel the Younger - or so they thought. Police heard of the planning for the theft in advance and arranged for a copy to be made. And it was the copy the art thieves took off the wall. Police even trolled the thieves for a while, initially telling newspapers that the loss of the forgery was a blow to the community. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.