[CPProt.net] Norwegian Police Deny Stolen Paintings Have Been Destroyed

[Museum Security Network / Cultural Property Protection Net (Ton Cremers)]

Norwegian Police Deny Stolen Paintings Have Been Destroyed 

Police in Norway denied a report today saying Edvard Munch's stolen
masterpieces The Scream and Madonna had been burned by thieves fearing
police were closing in on them. 

The priceless works were stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo by masked
gunmen on August 22. Although three suspects have been arrested, police have
yet to recover the paintings and have remained tight-lipped about their
investigation.

Today, the Oslo tabloid Dagbladet, one of Norway's largest newspapers,
reported that criminal sources say the paintings were burned because those
holding the stolen works feared police were closing in on them. Being caught
in possession of the works could lead to a long prison term.

Dagbladet also claimed that a classified internal police report has the same
information.

"This is completely unknown to the Oslo police," the head of the Munch theft
investigation, Iver Stensrud, said on the state radio network NRK. He said
he knew nothing about a secret report or the paintings being burned.

"Basically, I have no comment, and normally we don't use Dagbladet as a
reliable source here in the Oslo police," said Stensrud.

The stolen paintings are among Munch's best known. The Scream, a
20th-century icon that depicts an anguished figure who appears to be
screaming or shielding his ears from a scream, is too recognisable for the
thieves to try to sell, experts say.

There are three other known versions of The Scream.