Four paintings worth nine million euros stolen from the Rouen Museum in France

Two thieves stole four paintings from the Renoir Museum in the town of Cannes-sur-Mer early yesterday morning, but were forced to leave two of them behind as they fled, according to the mayor of the town in southeastern France.

Brian Maisonneuve, the mayor of the town where the Impressionist painter Auguste Renoir spent his final years, said: “The thieves were spotted thanks to the city’s surveillance cameras, but they escaped and left one of the stolen paintings.” Maisonneuve estimated the value of the stolen artworks at nine million euros.

He explained that “the museum’s alarm sounded at 5:48 a.m. At 5:53 a.m., just five minutes later, municipal police arrived at the scene,” emphasizing that “the attack on the Renoir Museum is an attack on a part of the history of Cannes-sur-Mer. These acts are extremely serious.” The municipality later reported that the two thieves had left behind a second painting.

The theft comes nearly a year after the famous robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Last October, thieves broke into the Louvre in broad daylight and fled in less than eight minutes with jewelry valued at $102 million. Since then, the French Ministry of Culture has given top priority to museum security, amid repeated incidents that have underscored the importance of protecting these institutions.