OSLO, Aug 24 (AFP) - The Munch Museum in Oslo reopened its doors on Tuesday, two days after a pair of world-famous paintings by artist Edvard Munch were stolen in a daring armed robbery carried out in broad daylight in front of visitors.
"The Scream", one of the most famous images ever painted, and "Madonna" were grabbed Sunday morning by armed and hooded thieves who burst into the Munch Museum in the Norwegian capital, threatening a member of staff with a gun.
The walls where the two paintings hung were bare on Tuesday. Museum director Gunnar Soerensen said he had for the time-being decided not to display a second, lesser-know version of "The Scream" owned by the museum.
Oslo police, who have pulled out all the stops in their search for the artworks, said Tuesday they were not ruling out any leads.
"We continue to receive tips and at the same time we are analysing clues, in particular those found in the stolen car" the robbers used to escape, Iver Stensrud, inspector at the Oslo police's organised crime squad, told AFP.
The robbers emptied the contents of a fire extinguisher into the car in an apparent bid to cover their tracks.
Investigators were examining whether the theft was either a contract job for an eccentric art collector, a theft for ransom or a publicity-seeking exercise.
When the museum's doors opened again on Tuesday at noon, Oslo mayor Erling Lae presented the museum's management and guards with a bouquet of flowers.
"The guards found themselves in a very difficult situation. They conducted themselves very well and did a fantastic job," said Lae, quoted by the Norwegian news agency NTB.
But the museum's security has been called into question.
The two robbers burst into the Munch Museum, pointed a gun at a guard's head, then snatched the paintings off the wall before dashing out of the building within minutes.
The two paintings were linked to a silent alarm system but were hung from the wall with simple metal wiring. By contrast, other international galleries use bullet-proof glass to protect each work of art and attach them to walls more securely.
Museum officials stressed that the heist was the first ever carried out by armed robbers at a Norwegian museum, and said that while all possible security precautions had been taken, little could be done when museum guards are faced with gun-toting thieves intent on stealing art.
According to daily Dagsavisen, Norway's national culture authorities in March gave the museum some 500,000 kroner (more than 60,000 euros, 73,000 dollars) to boost security.
Meanwhile, a Norwegian celebrity and gossip magazine, Se og Hoer, on Tuesday offered a 100,000-kroner (12,100-euro, 14,700-dollar) reward for the return of the two paintings.
"We strongly hope that (the two artworks) will be returned intact to the Munch Museum," the magazine's editor-in-chief, Odd Johan Nelvik, wrote in Tuesday's edition.
"I hope that a reward will mean that Se og Hoer or the police will receive information about the location of the paintings," Nelvik said.
Police said however they were sceptical to the offering of rewards.
The paintings are considered too well-known to be re-sold on the art market.
Some estimates have put the value of the paintings, which were not insured against theft, at 100 million dollars (80 million euros).