Sotheby's employees pose for a photograph with Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream" at Sotheby's auction house in London April 12, 2012
Edvard Munch’s iconic sorrowful image The Scream must have appeared even more distressed than usual in 1994, as four thieves stole it from its home in Oslo, while the rest of Norway was distracted by the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
The robbery was executed with such ease that the culprits had time to leave behind a little piece of their own in return; a thank-you note to the National Gallery staff that read: “Thanks for the poor security.”
Although police recovered the painting two years later, another version was again stolen from the same museum in broad daylight in 2004. Both have been retrieved, but they were victims of damage. It seems The Scream’s subject will never stop suffering.