Crime · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
Two Thieves Break Into Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Steal Four Paintings Worth €9 Million
Two thieves broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer and stole four paintings. Stolen artworks valued at nine million euros, with one painting abandoned during escape.
How many paintings were stolen and abandoned.
6 of 7 outlets skipped it: thieves cut through fixtures with an electric saw.
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Same story, two versions
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BBC
“He says they "fled by running in the gardens", and it appears they lost two pieces of art in the process.”Read the original ↗
France 24
“Two thieves on Tuesday broke into the Renoir Museum in the town of Cagnes-sur-Mer in southern France and stole "four works of art"”Read the original ↗
Discrepancy centres on whether two were recovered/left, affecting what is still missing.
Renoir Museum Break-In
Two thieves broke into the Renoir Museum in the town of Cagnes-sur-Mer in southern France on Tuesday and stole four works of art, dropping one as they fled, according to the local mayor.
“Officials estimated the value of the stolen works at 9 million euros.”
France 24 reported that officials estimated the value of the stolen works at 9 million euros, while Reuters said the thieves broke into the museum a little before 6 a.m. through a hole made in a garden fence to snatch four paintings.F
The museum’s alarm went off at 5:48 a.m., and police arrived five minutes later, with the Town Hall on social media saying the police rushed to the museum and arrived five minutes after the alarm rang.
Reuters said police gave chase early on Tuesday and the thieves dropped two canvases in the gardens, but made off with the other two, while the museum was set up in 1960 in Renoir’s mansion on a hill near Nice where he died in 1919.
Mayor’s Warning, Police Response
Mayor Bryan Masson said, "Attacking the Renoir museum is attacking a part of the history and heritage of Cagnes-sur-Mer," and he described the theft as particularly serious.
CNN reported that Masson said the thieves were "well-equipped and well-prepared," cutting through a fence and entering the museum through the gardens, and he later said a second painting had been recovered from the garden of the museum.
The BBC said Masson told reporters that the sound of police sirens and the museum’s alarms caused the thieves to rush off from the scene, and he said they "fled by running in the gardens".B
The BBC also reported that Nice-Matin said the thieves cut through wire fencing to get into the grounds of the museum, and that it appeared they lost two pieces of art in the process, leaving only two works of art stolen.B
What’s at Risk Next
The Town Hall said the museum would be closed until further notice, and the authorities did not specify which artworks were stolen even as the permanent collection was described as holding 13 paintings and about 40 sculptures by Pierre August Renoir, plus furniture and photographs.
“The theft, he added, is “particularly serious””
The New York Times said the heist came almost exactly a year after thieves broke into one of the Louvre museum’s gilded galleries and stole royal jewels worth over $100 million, and it described the Renoir theft as "particularly serious" and as attacking part of Cagnes-sur-Mer’s history and heritage.
In a separate account, Reuters said the theft was the latest in a series of brazen art thefts in the country and noted that specialist gangs have been replaced by ad hoc opportunists recruited through social media, citing Europol.
France 24 added that the theft comes less than a year after eight items valued at around $100 million were stolen during a daylight robbery from the Louvre in Paris, with the four suspected Louvre robbers arrested but the stolen items still not found despite extensive searches.F