Taking strong exception to a UK trust's decision to auction 12 paintings of Rabindranath Tagore in June, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb<br/><br/>Bhattacharjee has urged the Centre to take necessary steps in bringing home the rare works.<br/><br/>In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said, the Elmhirst collection of Tagore paintings is a priceless treasure of Indian culture and the government of India should take all necessary steps to bring them back to India.<br/><br/>The paintings, presented to Leonard Elmhirst by the poet himself, are supposed to go under the hammer at Sotheby's in London on June 15 with a pre-sale estimate of around 250,000 pounds.<br/><br/>The London-based Tagore Centre, which looks after the poet’s creative works, has protested the decision to auction the paintings.<br/><br/>A spokesman for the organisation had said on Tuesday in London that he had urged the Indian High Commission to intervene.