Published

Europe08 September, 20262 min read

Two Thieves Break Into Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Steal Four Paintings

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Two thieves broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, stealing four paintings. Four paintings valued at about €9 million; two were abandoned during escape.

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Two Thieves Break Into Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Steal Four Paintings
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Renoir Museum break-in

Two thieves broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera early Tuesday, stealing four paintings and later abandoning two of them in the museum garden as police arrived. The mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Bryan Masson, said the museum alarm went off at 5:48 a.m. and that at 5:53 a.m., five minutes later, municipal police were on the scene.

“Mayor Bryan Masson said the thieves broke into the museum a little before 6 a.m.”
CBC

Masson said the thieves entered through a hole cut in a garden fence and initially took four paintings, including “Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano” and “Young Woman at the Well,” before dropping two works in the garden. The Marseille prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into theft by an organised gang, and the museum said the alarm system activated at 5:48 a.m. and the police arrived five minutes later.

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Image: 20 Minutes
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Names, values, and methods

The works identified as stolen included “Madame Colonna Romano” and “Young Woman at the Well,” while “Madame Pichon” and “Coco Reading” were taken but later dropped in the gardens, according to the municipality and the Marseille prosecutor’s office. Masson estimated the value of the combined Renoir works stolen on Tuesday at 9 million euros ($10.5m), and he told reporters the thieves entered the Renoir Museum via the garden and cut the clips securing the artwork frames.

In a Facebook post cited by CNN en Español, Masson said the thieves were “well-equipped and prepared” and added that “They had a chainsaw and used it to cut the fastenings that held the frames of the Renoir works,”. Franceinfo reported that the alarm was linked to the Ramses system and that the museum’s alarm “went off at 5:48,” with municipal police on site at 5:53, five minutes after the alarm.

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Security pressure and next steps

The Renoir Museum praised the Police for “professionalism and rapid response” and said “All possible efforts are being made to recover the missing works and to arrest those responsible for this theft,” while calling the theft “a warning about the protection of our museums.” Masson said “Attacking the Renoir Museum is attacking a part of Cagnes-sur-Mer’s history and heritage,” and he also argued that local authorities “cannot bear the growing cost of securing their museums alone.”

The French state’s role was framed by the museum’s statement as requiring “financial support to municipalities and cultural institutions,” and the museum declared that the French state must “fully assume its responsibility.” The theft came almost a year after the Louvre burglary in October 2025, when thieves stole €88 million ($102 million) worth of jewels, and Reuters reported that French parliamentary and culture ministry findings pointed to museums lacking resources and video surveillance.

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