Two thieves broke into the Renoir Museum in southern France early Tuesday morning and stole four works of art valued at approximately €9 million — about $10.5 million — before fleeing the scene.
The robbery took place at the museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, the former home of famed French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. According to Mayor Bryan Masson, the museum’s alarm was triggered at 5:48 a.m., and municipal police arrived within five minutes.
Security cameras captured the two suspects fleeing the museum. During their escape, the thieves dropped one of the stolen works and left it behind. Authorities have not yet disclosed which specific pieces were targeted.
The museum opened in 1960 at Renoir’s final home, where the artist lived until his death in 1919. It houses original furniture and personal belongings belonging to Renoir, as well as portraits, landscapes and other works of art.
Masson described the robbery as an attack on the history and heritage of the community as French authorities launched an investigation and search for the stolen artwork and those responsible.
The heist comes less than a year after eight items valued at approximately $100 million were stolen in broad daylight from the Louvre Museum in Paris. Four suspects in that case were arrested, but the stolen works have still not been recovered despite extensive searches by authorities in France and elsewhere in Europe.
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