The work was painted between 1500 and 1510

The Madonna with the Yarnwinder was stolen from Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway in August 2003.

Despite numerous appeals and a police investigation, the artwork, which belonged to the Duke of Buccleuch, has never been recovered.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation said it was "keen to solve" the case.

Dressed as tourists

A picture of the painting appears on the bureau's website accompanied by the following statement:

"In August 2003, two men dressed as tourists taking a public tour of Drumlanrig Castle, Scotland, overpowered a young tour guide and stole Leonardo Da Vinci's, Madonna with the Yarnwinder.

"Accompanied by two accomplices, the men escaped in a white Volkswagen Golf, abandoned nearby.

"Considered to be one of Da Vinci's masterpieces, the value of the painting has been estimated at $65m," the website states.

Det ch insp Peter McAdam from Dumfries and Galloway Police said: "While we no longer have a team of officers dedicated to this enquiry it remains open and we continue to follow up any new information as it is reported to us."

The room from which the painting was taken

The painting had been in the Buccleuch family for almost 200 years and had been admired by thousands of visitors to the castle every year.

It was painted between 1500 and 1510 for Florimond Robertet, secretary of state for Louis XII of France.

Other pieces in the FBI's top 10 include thousands of artefacts looted from the Iraqi National Museum.

Investigators are also keen to track down two Van Gogh paintings taken from Amsterdam's Vincent Van Gogh Museum in 2002 and Edvard Munch's The Scream and The Madonna from the Munch Museum in Oslo, which was stolen last year in a daylight raid.