Norwegian painter Edvard Munch's famous series, The Scream, has been the target of numerous art thefts in recent years. The series, created from 1893 to 1910, includes two oil paintings, two pastels, and a lithograph. One of the painted versions, as well as one of the pastels, hangs in the Munch Museum in Oslo. The National Gallery of Norway -- also in Oslo -- houses the other painting, and the second pastel belongs to the Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen.

The first major theft concerning the series occurred on February 12, 1994 at the National Gallery. Two men broke into the museum by smashing a window, then proceeded to cut the painting from the wall using wire cutters, and escaped out the same window and into a getaway vehicle in just 50 seconds! They left behind the wire cutters and a note that read: "Thanks for the poor security". The painting had been moved down from the more secure second floor to the ground floor for an exhibition celebrating the opening ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympics held in neighboring Lillehammer.

The theft became a sensation almost immediately, as the international press already in Norway for the Olympic games rushed to cover the crime. The museum received a $1 million ransom demand in March of the same year, but did not honor the ransom because it was thought to be a hoax. In May of 1994, British and Norwegian police joined forces in an undercover hunt to recover the painting. Within a few weeks, they discovered the painting, undamaged, in a seaside town outside Oslo where Munch had often painted.

Armed gunmen stealing paintings from the Munch Museum on August 22nd, 2004.  Photo taken by unidentified witness.

The other painted version of The Scream was stolen from the Munch Museum in 2004. On August 22nd, Masked gunmen entered the museum in broad daylight and stole both The Scream and another Munch work entitled Madonna. Three men were convicted with armed robbery in May of 2006, and sentenced to between four and eight years of prison. The paintings remained at large until the Norwegian police recovered them under undisclosed circumstances on August 31, 2006. The paintings had minimal damage, and the slight water damage in the lower left corner of The Scream was able to be repaired.