CAIRO: Two Italians were arrested at Cairo airport trying to smuggle out a Van Gogh painting stolen from a museum earlier on Saturday, Egypt`s Culture Minister Faruq Hosni told AFP.

"Two Italians, a man and a woman, were arrested while trying to leave the country with the painting," Hosni said.

There was no immediate confirmation from airport security but a Cairo police official said two Italians were arrested at the airport, without confirming whether they had the painting in their possession.

The painting, estimated to be worth 50 million dollars (39 million euros), was stolen earlier the same day from the Mahmoud Khalil museum in Cairo after it was cut out of its frame.

Hosni said the museum, located in the affluent district of Dokki on the Nile and which also has works by Monet, Renoir and Degas, had received only 10 visitors on Saturday.

Police officials questioned museum employees after the theft and reviewed security camera footage.

It was the second time the painting has been stolen from the same museum. Thieves made off with it in 1977, only for it to be restored to the Mahmoud Khalil a decade later.

Trade in artifacts is a lucrative business in heritage-rich Egypt.

Nine paintings depicting the 19th century Egyptian ruler Mohammed Ibrahim Pasha were stolen in 2009 from his palace museum. They were found 10 days later dumped on a sidewalk outside the museum.

The Mahmoud Khalil museum was once the palace of an MP in the 1930s who amassed a priceless collection of art. The contents are valued at about seven billion dollars, according to the Egyptian State Information Service website.

BDST: 10:08 HRS, August 22, 2010