The 46 artworks which went missing from the premises of the municipality of Maashorst in Brabant last year “probably” ended up being taken away in a council rubbish van, according to an official investigation.

Among the lost works is a silkscreen print of queen Beatrix from Andy Warhol’s 1985 series Reigning Queens, a series of 16 colourful prints of four monarchs: Elizabeth II of England, Beatrix of the Netherlands, Margrethe II of Denmark and Ntombi Twala of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland).

The total value of the missing works is estimated at €22,000.

Some of the art was given back to the artists, some was given to the local museum and some ended up in the new town hall when Uden council, the original owner, became part of Maashorst.

However, some 50 works of art could not be located. The investigation confirmed what council officials already suspected. The works, including the Warhol, most likely ended up in the local waste incinerating plant.

“That is no way to treat valuable items,” Maashorst mayor Hans van der Pas told local broadcaster Omroep Brabant. “But it happened, and we’re sorry,” he said.

The art had been stored in the cellar of the town hall during its restoration in 1923, where they were moved several times and damaged when a pipe sprang a leak, the investigators said.

When the works were dumped and who was responsible for putting them out with the rubbish is unclear. The Andy Warhol print was spotted in September 2023 and had also been damaged by water. By October, it had gone.

Maashorst officials said that the report trashed any hopes the works would ever turn up again.