SAN DIEGO, CA.- An 18th-century painting stolen from a Mexican church is in the hands of the Mexican government. "Expulsion from the Garden of Eden," depicts five scenes, including Adam and Eve tasting the forbidden fruit. In July 2000, thieves slashed the canvas of "Expulsion from the Garden of Eden" from its wooden frame and removed it from a church in San Juan Tepemazalco in Hidalgo state, U.S. and Mexican authorities said. The museum bought the painting five months later from a private collector for $45,000.

"Theft of cultural property, irrespective of its monetary value, is a deeply troubling fact facing all museums today," Derrick Cartwright, the museum's executive director since 2004, said in a press release.

No one has been charged with a crime but U.S. authorities say they are investigating. Authorities say the museum voluntarily forfeited the painting, which was completed in 1728 by an unknown artist.

“The thefts have prompted many churches to install alarm systems and motion detectors. Because few of the artifacts are cataloged, tracking stolen pieces is difficult. A few other stolen artworks have been returned, including a $225,000 wooden altarpiece taken from a convent near Puebla that was returned by an art gallery in Santa Fe, N.M,” reported the Los Angeles Times.