U.S. authorities have returned two paintings seized in New York that were stolen from the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland, by the Nazis during World War II.
The artworks were handed over to Polish officials at a repatriation ceremony Thursday at the Polish Consulate in New York. The paintings were by 19th-century Polish artist Julian Falat, who was known for his hunting and landscape paintings.
"Off to the Hunt" and "The Hunt" were seized last year during an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Polish authorities alerted U.S. authorities in 2006 that both paintings were about to be sold at auction in New York.
The paintings had remained missing since World War II.