Three paintings worth $10m stolen from Renoir Museum in southern France

Three paintings have been stolen from a museum dedicated to French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir in southern France in an early morning burglary.

Two thieves broke into the museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice, a little before 6am (0400 GMT) and took four paintings, Mayor Bryan Masson said in a post on social media on Tuesday.

“Spotted thanks to the town’s video surveillance cameras, the two individuals fled, abandoning one of the stolen paintings as they ran,” Masson said, adding his office estimated the value of the stolen works at 9 million euros ($10.5m).

“Attacking the Renoir Museum is attacking a part of the history and heritage of Cagnes-sur-Mer. These actions are particularly serious.”

Masson did not identify the paintings that had been stolen.

The Renoir Museum was opened in 1960 in the painter’s last home before his death in 1919.

Its collection includes objects and furniture that belonged to Renoir, including his easel and wheelchair, as well as 13 paintings and some 40 sculptures made by the master.

The mayor said it took just five minutes for the authorities to respond.

“The museum alarm went off at 5:48 am. At 5:53 am, just five minutes later, our municipal police were on the scene,” he said.

Investigators found two zippered bags in the museum garden that may have belonged to the suspects.

France’s Sub-Directorate for Combating Organised Crime and Specialised Delinquency is leading the investigation.

The theft comes less than a year after eight items valued at about $100m were stolen during a daylight robbery from the famed Louvre Museum in Paris.

The four suspected Louvre robbers have been arrested, but the stolen items have still not been found despite extensive searches by French investigators in the Paris region and exchanges with police in Belgium, Italy and beyond.