Severina Vuckovic, Sex Tape.

Severina Vuckovic told the daily Jutarnji List that the pictures and an 11-minute video of her making love to an unidentified dark-haired man had been stolen from her private collection.

They showed up on an Internet site on Tuesday and immediately became the hottest news in the former Yugoslav republic, where 32-year-old Vuckovic had previously been an icon of righteous and religious modesty.

"The pictures are my private property. They were taken two years ago and were stolen," said the singer.

"I appeal to those who have the pictures to return or destroy them so that they are not distributed further. Also, if they have any information about those who stole them, please tell the police," Severina Vuckovic said.

The website that first published the photos withdrew them on Wednesday. Its editor Matija Babic said they were careful to choose shots that were not too revealing.

"We did not want to show her breasts, let alone anything more," Babic said. A far more explicit version of the sex session has meanwhile been circulating the Web.

Vuckovic said she would sue those found to be involved in the theft and distribution of the pictures for invasion of privacy and causing mental anguish.