Last fall, brazen thieves made off with some of the French Crown Jewels that were housed at the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre. Valued at more than $102 million, the jewels were taken in a bold but low-tech theft. The criminals used a furniture lift to enter the viewing room through an unlocked window and made off with the jewels in under seven minutes. Some of those suspects were apprehended in October. It was unclear then if any of the stolen items were recovered, items which included jewels belonging to Empress Marie Louise, the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The pieces were likely dismantled or transformed to avoid detection.
Now thieves have struck again, this time stealing four pieces of art from a Renoir museum on the French Riviera. That art is valued at more than £8 million.
Two thieves have stolen four works of art from a Renoir museum in France - dropping one as they fled.
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) September 8, 2026
The mayor's office n Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera says the estimated value of the stolen art is nearly £8m.https://t.co/PQRPZTNP1j pic.twitter.com/Lfe9ht10hD
Authorities say the suspects ultimately left two pieces behind in the museum's garden. The four pieces removed from the Renoir museum are Portrait of Madame Pichon, Coco Lisant, Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano, and Jeune fille au puits.
The latter two are still missing. You can see images of them here.
🖼️ Another museum robbery in France: thieves steal €9 million worth of Renoir paintings
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) September 8, 2026
Two thieves broke into the Auguste Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera and stole four paintings by the artist.
The alarm went off at around 6 a.m., and police arrived just… pic.twitter.com/fdC2SRCnWa
According to the BBC, the theft comes just months after four masked men stole Les Poissons, another Renoir piece, Still Life with Cherries by Paul Cézanne, and Odalisque on the Terrace by Henri Matisse from the Magnani Rocca Foundation Villa in Parma, Italy.
Authorities say the French thieves were "clearly organized, equipped, and well-informed," using an electric knife and hacksaw to cut through a fence. According to Mayor Bryan Masson, the thieves were also wearing "helmets, gloves, and combat gear" to carry out the crime.
Thieves in COMBAT GEAR raided a French museum with an electric knife and hacksaw — cut through a fence, sliced the frames loose, and vanished with 4 Renoirs worth €9M.
— Carolyn Barber, MD (@cbarbermd) September 8, 2026
They “abandoned” 2 paintings in the garden on their way out. The other 2 — still missing.
An art detective… pic.twitter.com/3wfrOndC1O
This is reportedly the fifth such art heist since last October. Shortly after the Louvre theft, criminals stole 2,000 gold and silver coins from Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot, valued at €90,000–$100,000. In July of this year, masked thieves used sledgehammers to smash display cases at Musée Lalique and stole more than two dozen pieces of jewelry and crystal worth about €4.5 million. That same month, thieves stole a 2,500-year-old gold Vix torque (a Celtic necklace) from Musée du Pays Châtillonnais.
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