This should an easy crime to figure out! How many people are there in the government that can travel to all these places and if they start looking I think they will find one person that has visited all of them.

jim, hedgesville, united States

Looks like GB has sold them to prop up the Public Purse!!

Louis, Liverpool, UK

Discomforting to know that these have gone missing from relatively secure areas such as an embassy. What else is missing ? Visa stamps ? And we have to endure a police state so that government can pretend to keep us secure.

John Taylor, London,

Sell them all, except those which can be sent to a recognised museum in the UK. The regional museums for example would jump at the chance.

David Kay, Hemingford Grey,

Just get them back to BRitain & put them in a safe cellar. It's not worth the risk of loosing the pictures. Prints would be just as good. Is there a special art police squad on the trail?

Reed, St Neots,

This is the silliest front-page lead of the year. A mere 50 works missing or mislaid since WW2 out of a present total of 13,500. Looks like a record of excellent custodianship which wouldn't be matched by most major museums and galleries.

Robert, London,

“When the whole country is desperately trying to raise money to keep Titian’s Diana and Actaeon painting....."

When the cost is only the price of a cup of coffee each, I really think not.

ColinG, Doha, Qatar

I wouldn t waste too much time on the Leighton. It is probably a good replica.
The answer is to buy the current best art from Britain s new artists. This will be comparatively cheap and at least as good as alternatives if well chosen. It will neutralise the theft problem, publicise British art, and provide an alternative sponsor to the frequently eccentric values of the modern art market.

Henry Percy, London, UK

Governments buy art by artists from their own country as an investment, to promote their culture and to lend out to public buildings (including hospitals). The amount spent on this is tiny compared to that spent on defence (for example) and at least paintings may give some pleasure, unlike weapons.

phineyj, London,

The Titian was not a British painting & there is no case for 'saving it' for the country. The rest of it is the venal incompetence we have grown accustomed to from state employees

John, Birmingham, UK

The implication is that they have been informally 'saved for the nation', and will turn up again in a generation or two, when death duties call. Is that right?

albrecht, Paris,

Why on earth does the government have an art collection in the first place? Why should tax-payers work for such a purpose? What is wrong with private galleries and taxpayers' money being used for something useful - like environmental protection. and if they are going to have art - insure it!!!

Marco, Kraków, Poland

The new pension fund?

Howard, Manchester,

After the handover of Macau to China in 1999 the new administration discovered that all the portraits of the Governors of Macau left in Government House as agreed between Portugal and China were copies. The last Portugese Governer had had all the portraits copied and sold.

Turks & Caicossian, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands, BWI

Since these works are recorded as missing during WW2, 1967, 1970 and during the 1990s, how is it that "This govt" (jamiejim) and "this lot" (Mabs) are responsible?

azimuth, LONDON, UK

tris - you simply do not appreciate the absolute necessity in retaining the Titian for our international credibility! How could we, as a nation, be taken seriously without it? Please join our campaign "Important Treasures, Save Art and Literature, Let's Sacrifice Hospitals, and Increase Taxes"

Nigel, Worthing,

Why is the government wasing money on original paintings? Why not supply decent copies at a fraction of the cost? Wastrels.

Dr Nick Ashley, Huntingdon,

Maybe it's our noble Government which has removed the paintings and has sold them in an attempt to balance its extremely unbalanced books. Stranger things have happened. After all it has been closing embassies and consulates around the world for the same purpose

bob, london, uk

It's hard to know whether these losses is the result of incompetence or corruption. Either way, sending valuable original works of art to embassies, and then allowing those responsible to shrug off any losses, does seem rather foolish.

Chris K, Cheltenham, UK

Victor... From what I hear Embassy staff lead lives of unparallelled luxury. Even with government pensions they would not be able to keep up that standard after retirement without a bit of help. "Now where did I put that Van Gogh?"

tris, dundee, scotland

Instead of sending originals around the world, why don't they just use copies? In all honesty, who gets really close or notices the wallpaper? The originals, instead of just being seen by the higher echelons, can go on public display so the people who pay for them can see them!

Hazel, Castle Donington, UK

Lost paintings, lost data, nothings safe with this lot. I expect the paintings have all been sold at auction someplace.

Mabs, Northampton, UK

"Gone missing?" I take it that's the new turn of phrase for stolen...paintings do not just go missing...Some people, working in our ambssies obviously got a nice little earner on the side - apart from their salaries, expenses and pensions.

Nice one - just goes to show how "tight" our security is.

victor, Moscow,

Notice how none of the disappearances in the article are recent (some go back over half a century)? The fact that a new survey has presumably re-(re-)reported some missing paintings hardly qualifies as "news", even on perhaps the slowest news day of the year...

Edwin, Tokyo, Japan

What's the difference between "gone missing" and theft?

Neil, Kuala Lumpur,

It's clear some of our foreign office civil servants have secured pensions above their pay grade on the side, and the police would be better employed solving real crimes like this than harassing opposition MPs. However as most of our ambassadors are Labour appointees I won't be holding my breath.

Simon, London, UK

I can hardly keep track of one set of house keys - I understand the dilemma.

Peter Cross, Sydney, NSW

Why does the government have £100 million of art? Why is it all over the world in Embassies? Can we afford this?

And it's the first I noticed that "the whole country is desperately trying to raise money to keep Titian’s Diana and Actaeon". Desperately? The whole country? Really? Musta missed it

tris, dundee, scotland

hardly surprising. This govt has no sense of fiscal responsibility or duty to how is should spend our taxes. Benefits out of control, 'lost' public art, it doesn't matter the british tax payer is a limitless resource in terms of tax revenue apparently

jamiejim, glasgow, Scotland