French Police Launch Manhunt for Two Thieves Who Pulled Museum Heist and Stole Frour Renoir Paintings

Renoir’s stolen paintings ‘Madame Colonna Romano’ and “Jeune femme au puits” – Wiki Commons

It’s open season on the French museums.

About a year ago, on 19 October 2025, thieves disguised as construction workers stole eight pieces of the French Crown Jewels valued at over $100 million from the Apollo’s Gallery of the Louvre in Paris, France.

While five suspects have been charged, the jewels have never been recovered, and the heist underscored just how fragile is the security in French museums.

In March, Renoir paintings were among several other Renaissance artists’ works stolen in less than three minutes from a villa near Parma, in northern Italy.

And the trend is ongoing.

Yesterday (8), just before 6 am, two thieves, again climbing through a window, stole four valuable Renoir paintings from the Renoir Museum in the town of Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera.

The perpetrators abandoned two of the artworks as they fled, and law enforcement have launched a national manhunt for them.

Renoir Paintings Worth Millions Stolen In French Riviera Museum Heisthttps://t.co/ddlRikSG7N pic.twitter.com/QKVgZdsgxg

— Forbes (@Forbes) September 8, 2026

France 24 reports:

“French police on Tuesday hunted for two thieves who escaped with two Renoir paintings from a museum, after abandoning two others as they fled, in a burglary that reignited concerns about the protection of France’s cultural heritage.

The heist is the latest in a string of such robberies including the daylight theft last year of crown jewelry valued at around $100 million from the Louvre in Paris.”

Four paintings worth an estimated €9 million have been stolen from the Renoir Museum in the French Riviera.

Two offenders broke into the museum in Cagnes Sur Mer around 05:48 local time, setting off the alarm.

The thieves snatched four pieces of art, but abandoned two in the… pic.twitter.com/cBWR6p4C1T

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) September 8, 2026

Cagnes-sur-Mer Mayor Bryan Masson said the duo was ‘well equipped and well informed’. They cut through a fence and smashed a window to get inside the museum, and used an electric saw to cut through the frame mountings.

“‘The museum and police sirens forced the burglars to hurry, stealing only four works from the Renoir Museum’, added the mayor.

Of those four, two were ‘left behind in the gardens of the Renoir museum’, added the far-right official, whose office earlier estimated the value of the stolen works at €9 million ($10 million).”

Another French museum robbed. The stolen paintings are valued at about €9 million

Thieves hit Renoir’s house-museum at Les Collettes in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice, the estate where he spent his last years.

Two men smashed a glass door and cut canvases from the frames. They… pic.twitter.com/BSRRhclRdZ

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 8, 2026

Euronews reported:

“Art crime experts say works that are instantly recognizable are often stolen to order as they cannot be sold through reputable channels. Instead, it’s thought the goods often pass between criminals as collateral for other illegal activity.

Art theft consultant James Ratcliffe of the Art Loss Register told AP that thieves are increasingly targeting valuable artifacts, including traditional art.

‘Sadly, without further funding to improve museum security, we are likely to see an increase in the number of museum thefts we see. Each time thefts occur, it draws yet more attention to the perception of these museums as relatively easy targets’.”

Read more:

Paris prosecutor says jewels stolen from the Louvre are worth around $100 million

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