A Dutch museum had to pick artwork out of the bin after a member of staff thought that the display, which consisted of two empty beer cans, was leftover rubbish.

All The Good Times We Spent Together by French artist Alexandre Lavet shows two dented beer cans on the floor. They were exhibited inside the museum’s lift as if left behind by construction workers.

However, a closer look “reveals that these dented cans were meticulously hand-painted with acrylics”, the LAM museum in Lisse said.

But a lift technician thought the art was simply the leftovers of lazy visitors and threw them in the bin.

Once a curator spotted that the artwork was missing, staff were tasked with searching for it, the museum said on its website.

Eventually it was discovered in a bin bag and “miraculously, both cans were found intact”, it said.

The cans were cleaned and placed at the museum’s entrance.

Despite the mishap, the museum says it “bears no ill will towards the lift technician who made the mistake”, who was covering for someone who is “well acquainted with the building and its exhibits”.

“The theme of our collection is food and consumption,” said Sietske van Zanten, the museum’s director.

“Our art encourages visitors to see everyday objects in a new light. By displaying artworks in unexpected places, we amplify this experience and keep visitors on their toes.”