Overview
- Two thieves cut through a garden fence and entered the Renoir Museum before dawn on Tuesday, using an electric saw to cut bolts and seize four paintings while municipal police arrived five minutes after the alarm.
- In the thieves’ haste they abandoned two works that were recovered in the museum garden, while prosecutors have identified the two still missing as Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano and Young Woman at the Well.
- The Marseille prosecutor opened an inquiry into theft by an organised gang and has brought in national cultural‑property and specialised police units to lead a manhunt and forensic probe.
- Officials value the targeted haul at about €9 million and warn that smaller regional museums with limited security and emergency plans are increasingly exposed to fast, professional raids.
- One of the missing paintings has a recorded history of wartime looting, complicating provenance questions and underscoring why culture officials and local leaders are pressing for immediate upgrades to museum protection.