Ananova:

Researchers hunting for Nazi-looted art in British museums have appealed for public help in establishing the "uncertain" background of 600 works.

An extensive search through the national museums has so far failed to prove that any works were wrongly taken during the Second World War.

But there are about 600 items whose whereabouts during the war are unclear, and the researchers say they are "desperate" for public help in tracking their movements. They have published details of the works on the internet in the hope of encouraging people to come forward with the information.

The pain-staking trawl through national museums and archives was launched last year to discover if any works in their collections arrived as a result of being looted by the Nazis.

In February, 10 institutions, including the British Museum, published lists of works in their collections for which their whereabouts could not be confirmed for the whole period 1933 to 1945. That list then contained 350 items but has now grown to 600 as researchers find more works with unclear histories.

They include a valuable miniature of the crucifix painted in the 15th century and purchased at an antique shop in Cirencester in 1943 by a Mr Wyndham Payne from Sidmouth, Devon. Mr Payne died in 1974 and the British Library, which now holds the miniature, cannot say for certain that it was not looted during the war.

Dr Alice Prochaska, director of special collections at the library, said: "We have no reason to believe that since the 15th century it ever left the British Isles. But we don't know and we don't know how it came to be in that antique shop. We don't even know which antique shop it was."

Today the National Museum Directors' Conference published an updated report of works of art it wants help with, the details of which are on its web site, www.nationalmuseums.org.uk.

It also reported for the first time on the plans drawn up by 14 regional museums to scour their own collections.

Sir Nicholas Serota, chairman of the working party set up to look into the issue of art stolen during the Holocaust, said: "We are encouraging people to come forward with information. We depend on people coming to us with information in order to help us fill the gaps.

"People could have the smallest pieces of information that could be crucial for us in determining where a piece of art was in the period 1933 to 1945."