Two thieves broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, southern France, on Tuesday morning, stealing four paintings later estimated at a combined value of £7.5million (9 million euros). The break-in is the latest in a string of high-profile art thefts in France over the past year, intensifying scrutiny of museum security following the daylight robbery of the Louvre and prompting the culture ministry to introduce new protective measures nationwide.

Mayor Bryan Masson said the museum's alarm sounded at 5.48am and police arrived within five minutes, but the pair fled after being spotted on CCTV, abandoning one painting, the Portrait of Madame Stephen Pichon, in the garden. The three works still missing are reportedly Madame Colonna Romano, The Young Woman at the Well and Coco Reading, while local reports suggest the thieves were also seen cutting up canvases. It follows the £76million Louvre heist last year, whose four arrested suspects have yet to yield recovered items, as well as recent thefts at museums in Châtillon-sur-Seine and Wingen-sur-Moder, and a since-resolved case in Parma, Italy.