Just before noon on the 22th of August 2004, masked and armed robbers rushed in to the Munch Museum in Tøyen, Oslo, in Norway and made off with two of the most iconic works of modern art, The Scream and Madonna by Norwegian expressionist painter Edvard Munch.

But this morning Norwegian police of the organised crime unit recovered the paintings in a raid in Oslo. According to police spokesmen, the artworks have probably been hidden in Norway all this time.

The police also stated that it would be some time before the details of the recovery would be made public, due to the ongoing investigation. They have yet to perform a full technical analysis, but they are fairly sure they're dealing with the genuine paintings, and not forgeries.

Gro Balas, director of culture for the city of Oslo, which owns the paintings, though a legacy from the painter, was present at the press conference. "I'm both relieved and happy, on behalf of Oslo's entire population," she said. "These paintings belong to the entire world. I was in Germany the day they were stolen. And people came up to me offering condolences for their loss."

It has long been rumoured that the theft was ordered by a certain David "the Mastermind" Toska, one of six men convicted of a commando-style armed robbery of a currency depot in April 2004, wherein a police officer was killed and NOK 65m (USD 10m) stolen.

Supposedly Toska arranged the art theft to divert police resources away from this investigation. This suspicion was recently strengthened when Toska -- a proficient amateur chess player and aficionado of sophisticated criminal ploys -- reportedly offered information about the paintings' location in exchange for more lenient terms. The appeal trial of the six is imminent.

During the initial trial in the money robbery case, another of the six defendants testified that he delivered the two paintings to another man at a farm near Oslo, wrapped up in garbage bags.

Both artworks are said to be in far better shape than was feared in light of the handling they have received. Indeed, speculation has been brewing that they might have been destroyed, since experts consider them too notorious to sell.

Six persons have already been tried the for the art theft, three of whom were acquitted. The other three were found guilty and sentenced to between four and eight years in prison, besides being slapped with a claim of 750 million Norwegian kroner (just south of USD 120 million).