Four paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, collectively valued at €9 million (approximately $10.4 million), were stolen from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, in an early Tuesday morning heist. Local Mayor Bryan Masson reported that two of the thieves dropped two of the artworks in the museum's garden as they fled.
The stolen works include "Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano" (1910) and "Jeune fille au puits" (1886). The two recovered paintings are "Portrait of Madame Pichon" (1895) and "Coco Lisant" (1905).
Security footage captured the perpetrators cutting through a fence to access the museum grounds before disabling the structures holding the paintings. Mayor Masson described the theft as an attack on the history and heritage of Cagnes-sur-Mer.
This incident marks the latest in a series of high-profile art thefts across Europe. Last month, four Renaissance paintings were stolen from a museum in Sicily. The frequency of these heists has renewed scrutiny on museum and gallery security protocols.