The Trib wrote:
OSLO, Norway -- Two years after the brazen daylight theft of national artistic treasures from an Oslo museum, police announced Thursday they recovered the Edvard Munch masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna."
Art lovers had feared the priceless paintings were gone for good. Norwegian news media spent the months speculating about the works' fate -- whether they had been burned to escape the police hunt, sold to a wealthy collector for private viewing or suffered harm in their hiding place.
"I saw the paintings myself today, and there was far from the damage that could have been feared," said Iver Stensrud, the police inspector who headed the investigation since the paintings were taken by masked gunmen who raided the Munch Museum on Aug. 22, 2004.
[...]
Stensrud, the police inspector, said authorities believed the paintings had been in Norway the whole time.
But he was cagey at a news conference in Oslo about how the paintings were recovered, saying only that "the pictures came into our hands this afternoon after a successful police action."
He did say no reward was paid, even though the City of Oslo, which owns the paintings, offered 2 million kroner, or about $294,000, for their return. He also said three men convicted this year for roles in the theft did not provide any help.
Art lovers had feared the priceless paintings were gone for good. Norwegian news media spent the months speculating about the works' fate -- whether they had been burned to escape the police hunt, sold to a wealthy collector for private viewing or suffered harm in their hiding place.
"I saw the paintings myself today, and there was far from the damage that could have been feared," said Iver Stensrud, the police inspector who headed the investigation since the paintings were taken by masked gunmen who raided the Munch Museum on Aug. 22, 2004.
[...]
Stensrud, the police inspector, said authorities believed the paintings had been in Norway the whole time.
But he was cagey at a news conference in Oslo about how the paintings were recovered, saying only that "the pictures came into our hands this afternoon after a successful police action."
He did say no reward was paid, even though the City of Oslo, which owns the paintings, offered 2 million kroner, or about $294,000, for their return. He also said three men convicted this year for roles in the theft did not provide any help.
