The New Mexican

A man who Vermont police say may be linked to the Santa Fe theft of a Vincent van Gogh sketch was being held in Vermont on burglary charges, according to The Associated Press.

Edward Laird, 45, is being held on $50,000 bail in Montpelier. It's unknown when he will be returned to New Mexico to face charges, according to the wire service.

The 14- by 17-inch charcoal drawing was among 77 items stolen from the home of a Santa Fe art collector in early 2009. It has been described as an unsigned sketch for the artist's later painting The Night Café.

In September 2009, the van Gogh piece was sold at a Raton consignment shop for $250. At the time, police did not release the name of the person who left the painting, nor indicated there was a suspect.

But Vermont authorities say the man turned up there last month, and he's charged with burglarizing two condominiums in the ski resort town of Stowe, credit-card fraud and occupying an abandoned camp in Underhill.

The owner of the van Gogh told The New Mexican last year that his great-grandfather acquired the drawing and that it's been in his family for three generations. The insurance company had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the attest of a suspect.