OUR latest rummage in the Advertiser's archives uncovered this fantastic story from ten years ago about the Helensburgh man who found a haul of stolen paintings at his home in the town.

Here's how we reported the story in the Advertiser on January 17, 2008...

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A LEAKY roof has led a stunned Helensburgh man to uncover a valuable haul of stolen artworks at his home.

The 67-year-old went into the loft at his home in Adelaide Street to assess the extent of the problem and found five paintings, which it later transpired had been stolen from the home of an elderly collector more than five years ago.

Valued at almost £250,000 at the time of their disappearance following a break-in, the works — three paintings by Robert Gemmell Hutchinson and two by Sir James Guthrie — were stolen from the woman’s Ardencaple home in 2002.

The find only came to light when the stunned householder, who believed that the paintings had been left by a previous tenant, took pictures of the paintings and sent them to leading London experts. He contacted specialists at the Fine Art Society after finding their labels attached to some of the paintings.

Patrick Bourne, managing director of the New Bond Street-based dealers, said: “The chap wrote a letter to us. He was very thorough and the letter contained photographs of each picture and a good description. He wasn’t doing it to make money. He just wanted to find out who the owner was and what they were.

“He was doing it for the right reasons. I told him it was quite likely they were a stash.”