The 10 Greatest Art Heists of All Time (4 of 6)

Thief 1 — Covid-19 Lockdown 0 (2020)

Remember when the Covid-19 lockdowns made it easy to waltz right into the Singer Laren museum in the Netherlands and steal a Van Gogh painting? Nils M. certainly does! Back in March 2020 just as everything was being shut down due to the pandemic, this daring cat burglar took advantage of this fact by breaking into the museum with the help of a sledgehammer. The painting, The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring (1884), made its rounds for the next 3 years before being reclaimed in September 2023. Nils (whose last name wasn’t revealed due to Dutch privacy laws) was sentenced to 8 years, giving him plenty of time to reflect on his deeds.

The Scream (and Probably Some Screaming) (2004)

We’re not endorsing the idea of stealing famous paintings from museums, but if you’re going to do it anyway it probably makes sense to wait until the wee hours of the morning. Or, you know, do what a pair of masked gunmen did when they entered the Munch Museum in Oslo in the middle of the day and, in full view of the public, told the guards to step away or else. The Scream (1910) and Madonna (1894) in hand, they departed with the help of a getaway driver. The paintings were recovered and returned to the museum in 2006. Although the thieves were never identified, the driver along with the supplier of the car and the mastermind who planned the heist all served prison time.