Investigation of the crime proved difficult in the early going , since it occurred over the Labour Day holiday weekend , when many of the museum 's officials including its director were vacationing far away from Montreal . It was further complicated by continuing news coverage of the Blue Bird Café fire , Montreal 's deadliest arson , three days earlier , dominating the headlines ; the next day the killings of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists at the Olympics in Munich further diminished media coverage . A sting operation conceived after the thieves returned the Brueghel ( later reattributed to his students ) and mailed photos of the other works to the museum seeking a ransom payment went awry ; a later attempt to negotiate their return cost the museum $ 10,000 with no results
killings of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists
Munich massacre
1972 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts robbery