Thieves steal three paintings from French Riviera’s Renoir Museum

The Renoir Museum on the French Riviera was targeted ​by two thieves who stole three ‌paintings Tuesday, the mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, where the museum is located, ​said.

Thieves stole four paintings from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera, the local mayor said, but dropped two of them in the gardens as police, alerted by alarms, gave chase early on Tuesday.

The most valuable works of the Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir have fetched dozens of millions of dollars at auctions.

Mayor Bryan Masson did not identify the items stolen by the raiders who broke into the museum a little before 6 a.m. through a hole made in a garden fence to snatch four paintings, in the latest of a series of brazen art thefts in the country.

“Attacking the Renoir museum is attacking a part of the history and heritage of Cagnes-sur-Mer,” Masson said in a message.

Police arrived within five minutes to give chase, leading the thieves to drop two canvases, but they made off with the other two, added Masson, who initially said just one had been dropped.