The pensioner noticed a blue overall hanging on a wall and assumed it had been forgotten by another visitor, she took it, tried it on, found that it was too big and asked her tailor to shorten it.

Just a few days later, the pensioner returned to the museum and was placed under arrest on suspicion of art theft.

French Police informed her that the overall was actually a contemporary work by the esteemed Spanish artist, Oriol Vilanova.

The pensioner confessed to the theft but said she had no idea she had taken an artwork, The Times reports.

Police recovered the overall from her home but found that it had become 30cm shorter after its visit to the tailor.

Prosecutors decided against charging the pensioner, who was let off with a warning.