Share to ClassroomStolen Renoir Paintings Found, Six People Arrested
Investigators in France have found two paintings by the famous artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The paintings were stolen from a museum in the south of France last month, and six people have been arrested. Bryan Masson, the mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, shared the news on Friday. He said it brought great joy and a big relief to the town. The two paintings are worth millions of dollars. They belong to the Orsay Museum in Paris, which lent them to the Renoir Museum.
The thieves broke into the Renoir Museum early in the morning on September 8. They cut through a garden fence and climbed in through a window. In under three minutes, they took four valuable paintings. But alarms warned the police, who chased the thieves. As they escaped, the thieves dropped two of the paintings in the garden. One of them shows Renoir's young son. Renoir's works are very valuable, and some have sold for tens of millions of dollars at auction.
It is not clear how investigators found the paintings. The police did not answer reporters' questions right away. The crime reminded many people of the crown jewels stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris last year. People asked for better security and more money for museums in France. Now, the people of Cagnes-sur-Mer are celebrating the good news.
