It was just after lunch time on April 4 when a man dressed in black casually sauntered into Penn Medicine’s Perelman Center, took a $1,600 piece of art off the wall and walked off.
But the entire art heist was caught on security camera.
And now, Philadelphia Police have released the video footage of the unknown man and asked people to help locate the suspect.
The artwork is a little over three feet long. It's called "34 Years in The Making" and is made of pieces of various license plates. It's been on loan to the hospital since September.
The daring thief looked both ways down the hall before taking it off the wall.
Then, the suspect appears to slip into a bathroom. Later, he's seen with the frame wrapped in blue plastic. He goes down an escalator, checks his phone and walks out the door.
He was last seen walking to the University City Regional Rail Station on South Street.
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The suspect is described by police as a white man, middle aged, with facial hair. He was wearing glasses, a black baseball cap with white lettering on the front, a black coat and pants and blue Nike sneakers with white trim on the bottom.
The police are still actively looking for the culprit. Penn would not comment for this story.
The Philadelphia artist who created the piece, Tim Barton, is devastated.
"Hopefully it can be recovered, [Penn] said it is the first time anything like this has happened," Barton wrote in a Facebook post.
However, his lawyer says the artist was twice victimized, because he became a focus of the investigation after the theft. But, according to his lawyer, Barton has consented to a search of his home, provided a statement to police and has offered to take a polygraph.
"Make no mistake, that man in the video is not Tim Barton," said Lauren Wimmer.
If you have any information about the suspect, contact Philadelphia Police.
