Police in the Italian city of Naples said on Friday the paintings, of "priceless value," were discovered in a raid against a Naples-based Camorra crime clan.

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said the paintings had been removed from their frames, but that they appeared to be "in a relatively good condition."

The museum said the works - stolen in 2002 - were the 1882 piece "Seascape at Scheveningen" and a later painting, "Congregation leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen."

"The paintings have been found!" said director of the Van Gogh Museum, Axel Rüger. "That I would be able to ever pronounce these words is something I had no longer dared to hope for. It is not yet certain when the works will come back to Amsterdam. But I fully believe that we can, once more, count on the unconditional support of the Italian authorities."

"Seascape at Scheveningen" is one of only two seascapes that Van Gogh painted during his years in the Netherlands. "Congregation leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen" is a small canvas that Van Gogh painted for his mother in early 1884. His father had been a minister at the church.

rc/kl (AP, AFP, Reuters)