French police are investigating the theft of two Renoir paintings from the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a town on the French Riviera. The two thieves, who escaped with the artworks, cut through a garden fence and entered the museum’s grounds early on Tuesday, according to local mayor Bryan Masson. The stolen paintings, Young Woman at the Well and Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano, were on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The mayor estimated their combined value at €9m, though the exact worth of each remains unspecified.

The theft occurred shortly after the museum’s alarm system was triggered at 5:48am, prompting police to arrive within five minutes. Masson said the alarm forced the thieves to flee hastily, limiting the scale of the theft. Two other paintings, Portrait of Madame Pichon and Coco Reading, were abandoned in the museum gardens and have since been recovered. The mayor, a member of the far-right National Rally (RN), described the incident as an attack on the town’s cultural heritage and called for increased security measures for museums across France.

The incident is part of a broader trend of museum heists in Europe, including the high-profile theft of crown jewels from the Louvre in Paris last October. Europol reported that museum robberies have become increasingly violent, with some thieves using weapons and explosives. Art theft expert James Ratcliffe of the Art Loss Register warned that without improved funding for museum security, the trend is likely to continue. He noted that each theft draws attention to the vulnerability of cultural institutions, potentially encouraging more criminals to target them.

The stolen paintings, which were on loan from the Musée d’Orsay, are among the most valuable works by Renoir. The Renoir Museum, established in 1960, houses about a dozen of the artist’s paintings, along with personal items such as his wheelchair and easel. The mayor emphasized that the artworks are irreplaceable, stating, “You cannot sell them like that.”

While the police have not yet identified the suspects, investigators found two zip-up bags at the scene, which may have belonged to the thieves. The mayor described the suspects as “well-equipped and well-informed,” suggesting they had prior knowledge of the museum’s layout and security systems.

The theft follows a recent wave of art-related crimes across Europe, including the recovery of stolen works in Italy and the theft of Renaissance paintings in Sicily. The mayor called on the French government to provide more financial support to local museums to combat the growing threat of organised crime. However, the exact nature of the threat and the identities of those behind the heists remain unclear.