A Miami art dealer alerted museum officials in Cuba after he discovered a painting he had purchased came from the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, 

The museum released a statement on Friday that 100 "important pieces" were found to be missing from a warehouse. Paintings were cut out of their frames and there was no sign of forced entry so when the works went missing is not known. Most of the missing artworks are described as Arte Cubano, largely represented by the artist Leopoldo Romañach.

A painting by Eduardo Abela called “Carnaval Infantil” was offered for sale to art dealer Ramon Cernuda. after he bought the work, Cernuda had suspicions about the provenance. He says he found another 11 paintings for sale in Miami that came from the museum.

Ninety-five paintings are still missing. Cuba's National Council stated, “competent authorities in and outside the country are providing technical specifications and photos to museums, galleries, auction houses and others in order to alert them that a theft from an official institution has taken place with the intent to illicitly traffic nationally and internationally.”