( CNN ) -- Iranian authorities confiscated the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize given to human rights activist Shirin Ebadi , Norway said Thursday . `` The medal and the diploma have been removed from Dr. Ebadi 's bank box , together with other personal items . Such an act leaves us feeling shock and disbelief , '' Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a written statement . Norway did not explain how it had learned of the alleged confiscation , and there was no immediate reaction from Iran . Norway 's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a written statement that it `` has reacted strongly '' and summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires on Wednesday afternoon to protest the move . During the meeting with the Iranian charge d'affaires , State Secretary Gry Larsen also expressed `` grave concern '' about how Ebadi 's husband has allegedly been treated . `` Earlier this autumn , he [ Ebadi 's husband ] was arrested in Tehran and severely beaten . His pension has been stopped and his bank account has been frozen , '' the statement from Norway said . Store said in the statement that it marked the `` first time a Nobel Peace Prize has been confiscated by national authorities . '' The peace prize is one of five awarded annually since 1901 by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm , Sweden . The other four prizes are for physiology or medicine , physics , chemistry and literature . Starting in 1969 , the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel also has been awarded . While the other prizes are awarded by committees based in Sweden , the peace prize is determined by a five-member panel appointed by the Norwegian parliament . Ebadi received the prize for her focus on human rights , especially on the struggle to improve the status of women and children . A statement from the Nobel committee at the time said , `` As a lawyer , judge , lecturer , writer and activist , she has spoken out clearly and strongly in her country , Iran , and far beyond its borders . ''
Shirin Ebadi received prize for focus on human rights , especially women and children . Norway did not explain how it had learned of the alleged confiscation . The medal and the diploma have been removed from Dr. Ebadi 's bank box , say officials .