On the 4th of August 1986, an open letter was published in The Age from a group calling themselves the Australian Cultural Terrorists, taking responsibility for the theft of a Picasso from the National Gallery of Victoria. Staff hadn't noticed The Weeping Woman was missing until reading the letter, which prompted a large, cross-border police investigation. The group was demanding more funding for independent, community artists, and threatened to destroy the $2M AUD painting if their demands were not met.