Masked thieves who stole $30 million in artwork from Sweden’s National Museum are demanding a huge ransom, police said yesterday.
“But we do not intend to pay a single krona,” said superintendent Leif Jennekvist.
The three robbers surprised guards on Dec. 22 when one of them, wielding a submachine gun, burst into the museum five minutes before closing time.
His two accomplices quickly pulled three paintings -a 1630 Rembrandt self-portrait and two works by Renoir, “A Young Parisienne” and “Conversation” -off the walls.
The thieves then escaped in a boat moored near the museum on Stockholm’s waterfront.
There was no further word about the national treasures until Saturday, when a letter with five or six photographs of the paintings was sent to police, authorities said.
The photos showed the paintings were undamaged.
Jennekvist, head of the Swedish police’s regional investigation department, said the thieves were demanding “several million” krona but did not give a specific figure.
A million Swedish krona equals $100,000.
Jennekvist said police had been in contact with a middleman but were refusing to negotiate or pay ransom.
The paintings were not insured, authorities said.