MONTREAL- A hefty reward is being offered for the return of two small archaeological pieces stolen from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

 

The exact amount of the reward was not specified by the AXA Art insurance company but it was described as substantial.

 

An additional $10,000 is being offered to anyone who can identify a man caught on the museum's closed-circuit security cameras.

 

Video shown to police and insurance investigators clearly shows the robber carrying out the theft in the museum gallery where the pieces were on display.

 

The pieces -- an Assyrian bas-relief and a marble head  -- are together valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

They were taken last fall but the theft was not made public to protect a police investigation.

 

The museum says the theft is an isolated incident and that items are protected by security systems that include motion detectors.

 

Guards also patrol the galleries.