French police arrest 5 suspects over Renoir museum theft

French police have arrested at least five suspects in connection with the theft of two Renoir paintings from a museum in southern France last month, local media reported.

Two burglars cut through a fence and smashed a window to enter the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer on September 8. They then used an electric saw to cut through the frame mountings, according to the local mayor.

The thieves initially took four Renoir artworks, valued together at around €9 million ($10.5 million), but dropped two in the museum's garden as they fled from police who had been alerted by the alarm system.

The daily Nice Martin newspaper, which first broke the news of the arrests, said six people were taken into custody, including the two suspected burglars.

Prosecutors in Marseille, who are leading the investigation, declined to comment.

What happened to the artworks?

The two paintings stolen from the museum were the Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (1910) and Jeune fille au puits (1886).

Nice Martin reported that the whereabouts of the artworks was not immediately known.

Founded in 1960, the Renoir Museum is located in the former home and studio of French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir on the Cote d'Azur. The property houses 12 of his artworks and is surrounded by gardens and olive trees.

The heist in Cagnes-sur-Mer was the latest in a series of museum robberies, including the daylight theft of the French crown jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris last year.

Four suspects have been arrested over that case, but the jewels they are accused of taking, with a value of around $100 million, have not been recovered.