Thieves Break Into Renoir Museum in France, Steal 4 Artworks Worth €9m
- Two individuals broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer early in the morning and took four artworks
- The town's mayor said municipal police arrived at the scene within five minutes of the alarm going off at 5.48 am
- The heist happened less than a year after eight items worth about €88m were stolen from the Louvre in Paris
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Two thieves forced their way into the Renoir Museum in the southern French town of Cagnes-sur-Mer and made off with four works of art, dropping one of the pieces as they ran from the scene, according to the local mayor.
Bryan Masson, the far-right mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, confirmed the break-in took place early in the morning on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, and said the town's video surveillance cameras caught the suspects fleeing. He put the combined value of the four stolen works at €9m (£7.7m).
Source: Getty Images
Museum alarm and police response
According to BBC, the museum alarm was triggered at 5.48 am, and municipal police reached the building just five minutes later, at 5.53 am. Despite the swift response, the thieves had already escaped, leaving behind one of the paintings they had taken during the robbery.
The museum, which opened in 1960, is housed in the final home of French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who died there in 1919. Its collection includes personal belongings such as his easel and wheelchair, alongside portraits, landscapes, and paintings created by Renoir during his lifetime.
Renoir theft follows Louvre robbery
The incident comes fewer than 12 months after a brazen daytime robbery at the Louvre in Paris, during which eight items valued at roughly €88m were taken. Four people suspected of carrying out that theft have since been arrested, though the stolen pieces remain missing despite extensive searches across France and coordination with police in Belgium and Italy.
Europol said last month that art theft across Europe has grown more violent in recent years, with organised specialist gangs increasingly giving way to loosely formed groups recruited through social media.
US returns 30 stolen antique artworks to Cambodia
Legit.ng earlier reported that the United States returned 30 stolen works of art and antiquities to Cambodia that had been looted from the southeast Asian nation, including from an ancient Khmer city, and illegally trafficked around the world for decades.
Manhattan federal prosecutor Damian Williams officially handed over the looted antiquities to Cambodia's ambassador to the United States, Keo Chhea, in front of press.
Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
