A 16th-century painting by Renaissance master Lucas Cranach the Elder has been stolen from a church in Norway.

Police say thieves broke in through a window at the church in Larvik, south of Oslo, and took the painting early Sunday morning.

"We don't have any suspects and are very interested in talking to anyone who might have seen something," Petter Aronsen, a Larvik police official told Norwegian news agency NTB.

Aronsen said both the national crime police and the national economic crime unit will be investigating the theft, and that a worldwide alert would be issued.

The altar piece work, called Suffer the Little Children to Come Unto Me, is estimated to be worth up to $3.86 million Cdn. Art experts say it was probably painted around 1540.

Police say an alarm went off at 1:30 a.m. local time but by the time authorities arrived, the thieves had escaped, leaving a ladder.

The one-metre-wide painting, which has hung in the church since its opening in 1677, shows Christ cradling two babies, surrounded by several women with toddlers and a few men.

Cranach, who died in 1553, is considered one of the top German master artists of his time. He was also a celebrated printmaker who specialized in woodcuts and engravings.

He was known for his portraitures including those of Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, Luther's wife, mother and father.