The Mona Lisa was stolen on August 21, 1911, from the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. The theft was carried out by Vincenzo Peruggia, a former Louvre employee, who hid in the museum overnight and took the painting off the wall the next morning. The painting remained missing for over two years until Peruggia tried to sell it in Italy in December 1913, after which it was recovered and returned to the Louvre.