Thieves broke into a church in Norway and stole a valuable 16th century painting by the German Renaissance master Lucas Cranach the Elder, police said on Sunday. One or more thieves climbed a ladder and broke a window to enter the church at Larvik, south of Oslo, and stole the painting in the early hours of Sunday, police officer Petter Aronsen said.
"We have no suspects so far in the investigation," Aronsen said. Experts believe the painting could be worth $2 million to $3 million based on prices fetched at auction for works by Cranach (1472-1553), Norwegian online paper VG reported.
The precise date of the stolen painting "Let children come to me", which shows Christ in a blue robe holding two infants in his lap and surrounded by several women with small children and a few men, was not known. Aronsen said it had hung in the Larvik church since it was built in 1677.