Two Renoir Paintings Stolen from French Riviera Museum

Two thieves broke into the Musée Renoir in Cagnes-sur-Mer shortly before 6 a.m. on Tuesday, cutting a hole in a garden fence and entering through a window, local authorities said. The stolen works, "Madame Colonna Romano" and "Young Woman at the Well," belong to Paris' Musée d'Orsay and were on loan to the museum. Police said the thieves also seized two other paintings, "Madame Pichon" and "Coco Reading," but abandoned them in the garden when alarms sounded and officers arrived.

Mayor Bryan Masson, who also serves as a member of the National Rally party, described the paintings as "priceless, you cannot sell them just like that" and called the incident a wake-up call for museum security across France. The Marseille prosecutor's office announced an investigation into a possible organised-crime gang.

The museum, housed in Renoir's former residence near Nice, displays 13 of his paintings along with dozens of sculptures and other artifacts. Recent reports have highlighted shortcomings in French museum security, noting that only a quarter of institutions have emergency risk-prevention plans and many lack video surveillance. Europol has warned that art-theft gangs in Europe are becoming more violent and increasingly opportunistic.

A local resident, identified only as Luc, said he was awakened by police activity and noted the museum's isolated location.