OSLO, NORWAY.- The City of Oslo has requested $111 million in compensation in case the Munch works of art "The Scream" and "Madonna" are not recovered. The City warned that this demand would be leveled against those eventually convicted of the theft of the paintings, which were stolen at gunpoint from Oslo's Munch Museum last August.

Police lawyer Morten Hojem Ervik stated that they would factor this claim into eventual prosecution but that police were still highly optimistic that the paintings would be recovered. Newspaper Dagbladet cited on Thursday Dagbladet criminal sources and a secret police report stating that the paintings had been incinerated, but police sources did not take this seriously.

Gunnar Sørensen, head of the Munch Museum, said Thursday that they had now requested armed police escorts to accompany their artworks when being transported, at home or abroad.

Gunnar Sørensen said, "We have a responsibility to make Munch known and this must be weighed up against other responsibilities."