STOCKHOLM: A Swedish museum only learned of the theft of three of its works of art, including a valuable Edvard Munch painting, after they were discovered by police during a raid, media reported Thursday. The Malmoe Art Museum in southern Sweden had not reported the three recovered pieces stolen and had no idea they were missing, the bewildered head of the institution said. “Neither I nor our staff can explain how this could happen,” Goeran Christenson told the Kvaellsposten local tabloid. “I was shocked. Flabbergasted,” he told Swedish radio. Police found the Munch painting and two works by Swedish artists Gustaf Rydberg and Paer Siegaard during an raid at an apartment in the southern town of Landskrona Wednesday. Kvaellsposten said the museum's only artwork by Norwegian master Edvard Munch, “Two Friends”, was valued at approximately 10 million kronor ($1.5m) and the Rydberg and Siegaard pieces were worth about 200,000 kronor each. The theft is thought to have taken place around two weeks ago. The pieces had been recently removed from the museum's permanent exhibition and placed in storage. – Agence France
