Two thieves broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, southern France, on Tuesday, September 8, stealing four valuable paintings before dropping two as they fled from police.

According to reports, the intruders entered the museum grounds shortly before 6:00 a.m. by cutting a hole in a garden fence.

The museum alarm went off at 5:48 a.m. and police arrived about five minutes later.

Local Mayor Bryan Masson said security cameras captured the thieves as officers rushed to the scene.

As the pair fled through the museum gardens, they dropped two of the paintings they had taken but escaped with the other two.

The four paintings initially taken were Portrait of Madame Pichon (1895), Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (1910), Coco Lisant (1905), and Jeune fille au puits (1886), also known as Young Woman at the Well. 

The two paintings that remain missing are Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano and Jeune fille au puits. The artworks were estimated to be worth around €9 million (approximately Sh1.35 billion).

The exact value refers to the works involved in the theft and may not represent the value of the two paintings that remain missing.

The Renoir Museum is located at Villa Les Collettes, the former home of famous French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, where he lived until his death in 1919.

The museum houses original Renoir paintings, sculptures, furniture and personal items connected to the artist.

Authorities have launched an investigation and are searching for the two suspects and the missing paintings.

The incident at the Renoir Museum comes less than a year after a major heist at the Louvre in Paris, where thieves stole historic French Crown jewellery valued at about €88 million (approximately Sh12.76 billion). 

The October 2025 raid involved thieves using a vehicle-mounted lift to reach a balcony of the museum before breaking into the Galerie d’Apollon. Several pieces remain missing.