Interpol search for stolen Scream

Stolen: The Scream

The hunt for The Scream went international today as Norwegian police called in Interpol to help recover the £40million painting.

Forces worldwide have increased searches at ports and airports to try to prevent the work by Edvard Munch disappearing forever into the criminal underworld.

The expansion of the police operation comes less than 24 hours after The Scream, one of the most recognisable pieces of art in the world, was stolen at gunpoint along with a second Munch work, Madonna, from the Munch museum in Oslo.

An initial search using hundreds of officers in the Norwegian capital backed by police helicopters found only the broken remains of the two paintings' frames.

Since the raid neither the thieves not the Audi A4 they used as their getaway car have been spotted and it is now feared the artworks, together thought to be worth up to ?50 million on the legitimate art market, have now left Norway.

A spokesman for Interpol confirmed: "We are now helping the Norwegian investigation in every way we can.

"This will include an increased level of alertness at all ports and airports in anticipation of the thieves trying to move the paintings from Norway."

Two masked men burst into the Munch Museum, yesterday, pointed a pistol at the head of a woman security guard and ripped the two paintings off their wall mountings.

The pair were caught on CCTV running from the building with the works before jumping into their car and speeding off.

Neither painting was apparently alarmed and police did not arrive for some 15 minutes. Nobody was hurt in the raid.

Experts said the paintings are too recognisable to be sold legitimately and will either be used as currency in the criminal underworld or be ransomed back to the Norwegian authorities.

It is the second time in a decade that a version of The Scream has been stolen. Another version was stolen from Oslo's National Gallery in February 1994 but recovered three months later.

Then police found the work in a hotel in Asgardstrand, about 40 miles south of Oslo, and arrested three Norwegians. They had tried to ransom the painting for $1 million.

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