The Sotheby’s auction house, adhering to the requirement by the INTERPOL Office of Russia, removed from sale the “Evening in Cairo” by celebrated Russian Armenian seascape artist Ivan (Hovhannes) Aivazovsky.

TASS news agency of Russia reported about the aforementioned citing Sotheby’s representatives.

“At the owner’s request, the painting was removed from Sotheby’s auction to be held on [Tuesday,] June 2, 2015,” said a representative of the auction house.

The painting, which is worth US$ 2.4-3.1 million, was a main lot of Sotheby’s.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia informed that the painting was stolen in 1997 from the collection of a Moscow-based private collector.