# Thieves steal paintings worth £7.5million from Renoir museum in latest major heist in France

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/thieves-steal-paintings-worth-7-5million-from-renoir-museum-in-latest-major-heist-in-france/
- Published: 2026-09-08T15:42:07+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-08T21:48:04+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16113639/Thieves-steal-paintings-worth-7-5million-Renoir-museum-latest-major-heist-France.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Art, Culture, Europe, World

## Key points

- Thieves stole four Renoir paintings worth roughly £15million from a French museum
- Gang fled after alarm and police arrival; two paintings abandoned, two still missing
- Follows Louvre jewel heist and other recent French museum/heritage thefts

## Summary

Thieves broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera, making off with four paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir now valued at around £15million, roughly double the initial £7.5million estimate. The raid, carried out by a "well-equipped" and "well-informed" gang rather than the two suspects first reported, has alarmed French officials already grappling with a wave of high-profile museum and heritage thefts, and has prompted renewed calls for better security funding.

CCTV footage showed the group cutting through the perimeter fence with an electric saw before entering through the ground floor and slicing the clips holding the frames in place. The alarm sounded at 5.48am local time and police arrived within five minutes, forcing the gang to flee and abandon two of the four paintings, "Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano" and "Young Woman at the Well", in the museum garden; those two remain missing. Mayor Bryan Masson said the incident "should serve as a warning" about organised crime targeting art, while art theft expert James Ratcliffe warned that under-funded museum security is likely to lead to further thefts. The heist follows the £76million Louvre jewel robbery last year and the July theft of a 2,500-year-old Celtic gold collar from a museum in Chatillon-sur-Seine, despite a new 33-measure national security plan from France's Ministry of Culture.

## Coverage

- [Daily Mail: Thieves steal paintings worth £7.5million from Renoir museum in latest major heist in France](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16113639/Thieves-steal-paintings-worth-7-5million-Renoir-museum-latest-major-heist-France.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490)
- [The Guardian: Artworks stolen from Renoir Museum on French Riviera in latest heist](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/08/artworks-stolen-france-renoir-museum-french-riviera-art-heist)
- [Fox News: Art heist thieves make off with Renoir paintings worth millions from museum on French Riviera](https://www.foxnews.com/world/art-heist-thieves-make-off-renoir-paintings-worth-millions-museum-french-riviera)
- [BBC Entertainment: Four Renoir paintings worth millions stolen in French museum heist](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70drp0pyw2o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.