Stolen Munch works recovered

Three stolen works of art by Edvard Munch were recovered Monday, police said, less than 24 hours after thieves pried them loose from the walls of an upscale restaurant, in the second theft of the Norwegian master’s work in less than seven months.

Iver Stensrud of the Oslo police also said several arrests had been made. He declined to be more specific or say what condition the works were in.

The 1915 watercolor called “Blue Dress” and two lithographs -- a self-portrait and a portrait of Swedish playwright and novelist August Strindberg -- had been taken from the restaurant of the stately Refnes Hotel near the city of Moss, about 30 miles south of Oslo.

In August, the artist’s masterpieces, “The Scream” and “Madonna,” were stolen in a brazen daylight raid from an Oslo museum by three armed robbers and have yet to be recovered.