The Scream was stolen from Oslo’s National Gallery in 1994.
On 12 February 1994, two men broke into the National Gallery in Oslo and took its 1893 painted version of Munch’s masterpiece. The theft coincided with the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, when the painting had been moved to a second-floor gallery as part of Olympic-related festivities. The thieves left a note taunting the museum about its security.
After the gallery refused a ransom demand of US$1 million, Norwegian police organized a sting operation with help from British police and the Getty Museum. The painting was recovered undamaged on 7 May 1994. Four men were convicted in January 1996, although the convictions were later released on appeal because British agents involved in the operation had entered Norway under false identities.
This theft is often confused with the separate 2004 robbery at the Munch Museum. That later crime involved the 1910 painted version and Munch’s Madonna; both works were recovered in 2006, with The Scream suffering moisture damage.