AMSTERDAM/ROME Sept 30 (Reuters) - Italian police have recovered two paintings by the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh that were stolen in Amsterdam 14 years ago, as part of an operation against the Camorra mafia group that operates around Naples.

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said the paintings had been removed from their frames but appear to have suffered only slight damage. It was not immediately clear when they would be returned to the museum, which is the largest repository of Van Goghs work.

The paintings, Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen (1884/5) and View of the Sea at Scheveningen (1882), are both from relatively early in Van Goghs short, tempestuous career.

Italian financial police seized assets worth tens of millions of euros from a Camorra group involved in international cocaine trafficking, according to a statement. They said the assets included the paintings, which were priceless.

Theyre safe, said Van Gogh Museum director Axel Rueger said in a statement. I no longer dared to hope that I could ever say that, after so many years.