Theft of "The Scream" Simply a Diversion?

The Guardian raises the interesting possibility that the theft of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" last year may have been part of a larger heist. The timeline of events are all laid out in the article, but of particular importance is a robbery which took place at Norsk Kontantservice (Nokas), a cash transport service in the basement of Norway's central bank in Stavanger, three months before the Munch Museum theft. Kris Hollington reports that there is reason to believe that the theft of "The Scream" may have been an attempt to redirect the attention of national police and investigators away from the bank heist, in which thieves made out with 5 million GBP (approx. $9 million+ USD). Although the painting is worth significantly more, it has no market value and would never realize a price even close to its estimated value.

As a side bar to the whole story, the Guardian mentions art thief Paal Enger, whose main target is none other than Edvard Munch. Enger has been convicted and jailed twice for stealing Munch paintings, first in 1988 for "The Vampire" and again shortly after his release in 1996 for stealing...you guessed it, "The Scream." In 1999, he successfully escaped from prison but was nabbed by police 12 days later. Apparently without additional time added for his flight, Enger was released in 2000. I find several things quite amazing about Enger's theft record. Despite his ability to penetrate museum security (albeit rather insufficient security, but security nontheless), he invariably gets caught. The only thing more ridiculous than Norway's lenient treatment and sentencing of this repeat offender is their inability to keep tabs on him and prevent, or at least minimize the likelihood of, yet another crime. Although taken into custody for his suspected role in "The Scream" theft, Enger has denied any involvement. Another astounding point to this whole story is the lack of any additional security on or around "The Scream" despite several attempts in the recent past, some successful, to steal either this version or other versions of the work.

The Guardian's case is compelling and it certainly explains why the works were handled so roughly after the thieves removed them from the museum (and in broad daylight). No commissioned or self-interested thief/thieves displays the kind of disregard for the object's care that was demonstrated with "The Scream" heist, suggesting that the painting was really not of primary interest afterall. The theft of anything less than Norway's most prized art object would not have diverted national authorities' attention away from the other string of thefts as effectively. However, I do find it a little odd that the museum robbery occurred four months after the bank robbery. If the theft of "The Scream" was to divert attention away from the previous heist, why wait so long?

In any event, the sad part of the whole story is that in all likelihood "The Scream" (and the other painting stolen at the same time, "The Madonna") will not be recovered any time soon, and certainly not in very good condition if it ever is returned.