Another museum in France is hit with a million-dollar heist as thieves steal artworks from the Renoir Museum.
According to The Guardian, two thieves on Tuesday, September, broke into the museum in southern France dedicated to impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
The thieves steal four paintings from the museum, including Portrait of Madame Pichon (1895), Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (1910), Coco Lisant (1905), and Jeune fille au puits (1886).
Bryan Masson, the mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, said, “This morning, two individuals broke into the Renoir Museum and stole four works of art. Spotted thanks to the town’s video surveillance cameras, the two individuals fled.”
He added that his office estimated the value of the stolen works at €9m (£7.7m).
Initially it was thought that the thieves were one painting behind. However, later talking to the media, Masson said that the thieves abounded two of the paintings in the museum garden before fleeing from the scene.
The mayor said it took five minutes for the authorities to respond.
He said, “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 told reporters that the sound of police sirens and the museum's alarms caused the thieves to rush off from the scene.
Masson said they "fled by running in the gardens," and it appears they lost two pieces of art in the process.
"So, there are only two works of art that have been stolen," he added.
As per the regional French newspaper Nice-Matin report, the thieves cut through wire fencing to get into the grounds of the museum.
It also reported that the perpetrators timed the theft to take advantage of a change-over in security personnel.
The 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 portraits, landscapes, and nudes painted by the artist.
It is worth noting that the theft comes less than a year after eight items valued at around €88m were stolen during a daylight robbery from the Louvre in Paris. The four suspected Louvre robbers have been arrested, but the stolen items have not been found despite extensive searches.
