Thieves steal four Renoir paintings from French museum, dropping two as they flee

By Jack Guy and Saskya Vandoorne, CNN

(CNN) — Thieves stole four paintings from the Renoir Museum in the south of France on Tuesday, abandoning two as they fled, in the latest heist to hit the art world.

The museum’s alarm system went off at 5:48 a.m. local time Tuesday (11:48 p.m. ET Monday), and police arrived at the scene five minutes later, said Bryan Masson, mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, where the museum is located, in a post on Facebook.

The two thieves fled, dropping one of the paintings as they made their escape, said Masson, who is a member of the National Rally party. At a press conference later Tuesday morning, Masson said that a second painting had been recovered from the garden of the museum.

The thieves were “well-equipped and well-prepared,” he said, cutting through a fence and entering the museum through the gardens.

Despite the fact that police arrived in five minutes, that was enough time for the thieves to enter the ground floor of the museum, where 12 artworks were stored, said Masson.

“They were equipped with an electric saw and used it to cut through the fixtures securing the frames of Renoir’s works,” he added.

“An attack on the Renoir Museum is an attack on a part of the history and heritage of #CagnesSurMer,” wrote Masson in an earlier Facebook post. “These incidents are particularly serious.”

The mayor also called for tougher security measures at museums in France.

“We will devote all necessary resources to better protect this heritage, which belongs to everyone who lives in Cagnes-sur-Mer,” added Masson.

The Cagnes-sur-Mer town hall said in a Facebook post that the museum would be closed until further notice.

CNN has contacted the town hall, the Renoir Museum and France’s Ministry of Culture for comment.

Changing tactics and targets

The incident comes nearly a year after the Louvre was targeted in an audacious raid, which saw thieves steal priceless items in just a few minutes.

Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, has highlighted a shift in tactics in museum thefts, from deception and stealth to more aggressive and violent methods.

“The use of violent means could indicate the involvement of perpetrators with a new profile, distinct from those traditionally engaged in cultural property crimes,” reads a report from the agency published August 24.

“Unlike typical cultural goods traffickers, who usually avoid violence and specialise in organised property crime or the theft of cultural goods, these individuals often have histories of involvement in other types of crime.”

Thieves are also increasingly targeting items such as precious metals, gemstones and culturally significant artifacts, adds Europol.

“The choice of targets suggests strong criminal market demand and ease of illicit resale,” reads the report.

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