The director of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum believes the £3m Cezanne painting stolen a year ago will still be found - although the police inquiry has been closed.
The 19th century Auvers-sur-Oise by French impressionist Paul Cezanne was stolen in a daring roof-top heist in the early hours of New Year's Day.
Despite an extensive worldwide police inquiry involving a number of organisations experienced in dealing with stolen art, including Interpol, the Metropolitan Police Arts and Antiques Squad, no sign of the painting or the thieves has been found 12 months on.
But Dr Christopher Brown, the museum's director, has refused to get downhearted by the unsuccessful search, and still believes the painting will be found.
Dr Brown said: "Of course we are hopeful of its return, there's nothing very much else to be said. It's a very great sadness to us and a continuing pain. We very much hope the picture will be returned to us as soon as possible."
Police were called to the museum, in Beaumont Street, as revellers crowded the city streets after a night porter discovered the break-in. It is thought a lone thief broke in through the construction site for Oxford University's new Sackler Library in St John Street, climbed scaffolding and clambered over the roofs of the Department of History of Art and the Institution of Archaeology, before cutting a hole in a glass sky-light and lowering himself into the museum's Hindley Smith Gallery.
Police believe the thief may have used a smoke grenade and a small electric fan to avoid being identified by security cameras, in what they described as a carefully planned and expertly executed heist.
A spokesman for Thames Valley Police, which is leading the inquiry, said that although the incident room had now closed, the files would remain open.
He added: "All lines of enquiry have now been completed. However, the investigation will remain open, and should any fresh leads or evidence come to light, they will be followed up."
Earlier this year, a teenage computer wizard was jailed for 12 months at Oxford Crown Court for trying to exhort a ransom of 1m from Dr Brown. The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, falsely claimed the £3m painting was in his possesion, and threatened to kill the director and his family in a series of e-mails.
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