'The Scream' stolen from Oslo gallery

Edvard Munch’s paintings have been targeted again by thieves after an armed gang yesterday stole works including the Norweigian’s artist’s iconic painting The Scream.

In a daytime raid, two masked robbers forced an employee at the Munch Museum in Oslo to take down the important piece, regarded by many as an icon of existentialist angst, at gunpoint. They then escaped with another of Munch’s works, Madonna, in a getaway car.

The incident follows the theft of another version of The Scream, a painting of a thin figure on a bridge, which was stolen from Norway’s National Gallery, also in Oslo, during a break-in ten years ago. It was retrieved in a hotel several months later and remains in that gallery.

During yesterday’s raid it is understood that one thief threatened staff with a gun before the pair escaped in a waiting car, which was being driven by a third man.

Francois Castang, a French radio producer, said he was visiting the Oslo museum when thieves burst in and stole the paintings.

"What’s strange is that in this museum, there weren’t any means of protection for the paintings and no alarm bell," he said. "The paintings were simply attached by wire to the walls. All you had to do is pull on the painting hard for the cord to break loose, which is what I saw one of the thieves doing."

Mr Castang said police arrived on the scene 15 minutes later and visitors were ushered into the museum’s cafeteria.

The Munch Museum said the two stolen paintings were among its most valuable of Munch’s work - worth an estimated 10.5 million together.

Some visitors at the Munch Museum said that they thought they were being attacked by terrorists when the raiders struck.

"He was wearing a black face mask and had something that looked like a gun to force a female security guard down on the floor," said Marketa Cajova.

A police spokeswoman said: "Two or three armed men threatened an employee with a handgun ordering them to give them The Scream and Madonna.

"No-one has been physically injured, and the suspects escaped in an Audi A6. We are searching for the suspects with using all available means.

"We found the escape car, and we have found many pieces of the frames."

There are four versions of The Scream. The Munch Museum had two of them, a private collector owns the third, and the fourth is on display at Oslo’s National Gallery.

Last night, news of the theft prompted calls for heightened security in Scotland’s art galleries.

It was only last year that Leonardo da Vinci’s famed Madonna with the Yarnwinder was snatched from Drumlanrig Castle during an August afternoon.

Edinburgh’s arts impresario, Richard Demarco, said the painting theft in Oslo yesterday was a "terrible tragedy".

"We should take this incident as a warning signal for us to rethink our security systems in our art galleries," he said."

Guy Peploe, managing director of Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh’s Dundas Street and grandson of the Scottish artist Samuel John Peploe, said there was little security in art galleries.

"It would be very costly, however, to install screens to protect paintings and fortunately it is rare for such priceless paintings to be stolen. Unique art works such as The Scream would be impossible to sell on the black market as it is so well known, so I think this could possibly be an attempt at extortion, as it could be used to ransom the museum."