Overview
- Two thieves forced entry through the museum garden before dawn on Tuesday, cutting a fence and the bolts on frames while the alarm sounded at 5:48 a.m. and municipal police arrived five minutes later.
- The raiders took four Renoir paintings but dropped two in the museum garden during the chase; investigators have recovered Portrait of Madame Pichon and Coco Reading while Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano and Young Woman at the Well remain missing.
- The Marseille prosecutor opened a formal probe into theft by an organised gang and France’s national cultural‑goods and organised‑crime units have joined the manhunt.
- Officials said the suspects were well equipped with helmets, gloves and cutting tools, a method that fits a recent European pattern of fast, tool‑assisted raids on smaller institutions that are harder to secure.
- The Renoir Museum is closed as the inquiry continues and the theft has renewed calls from local officials and the Culture Ministry for more funding and the rapid roll‑out of a national 33‑point security plan to protect vulnerable collections.