Winston Churchill, known to be the British Prime Minister of World War II, had his famous portrait stolen from his hotel in Ottawa, Canada, and traded it for a copy.

According to CNN, after eight months, staff at the “Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel” noticed that the photograph, known as “The Roaring Lion,” had been changed. The portrait was taken by a Canadian photographer Yousuf Karch in 1941, after Churchill delivers a speech in the Canadian Parliament.

On her social networks, the general manager of the hotel, Genevieve Dumassaid the hotel was “deeply saddened by this brazen act”.

Flight

The exact day the portrait was replaced is not known, however, according to the hotel’s general manager’s interview with CTV, it was stolen between December 25, 2021 and January 6, 2022.

The employees only realized the peculiarity at the end of last week, after having noticed that the work was not hung correctly and that the frame did not follow the standards of the other frames in the place.

Former FBI art crime investigator, Robert Wittman told CTV the theft may have been an “inside job.” He added that it was probably someone inside the hotel who already knew how to circumvent photography security measures, having “inside information”.

The hotel has asked people to help pass any information about the theft to the local police.

Photography

The photograph Yousuf Karch he said he snatched a cigar from Churchill’s mouth moments before taking the prime minister’s famous photo.

karch came to live in the hotel and used the space to run his studio for a long time. When you had to move karch donated a collection of his portraits to the hotel, including that of Churchill.

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