Two Stolen Renoir Paintings Found, Six Arrested

The theft happened early in the morning on September 8. According to prosecutors, the thieves cut through a garden fence, climbed in through a window and took four valuable paintings in less than three minutes. However, alarms brought the police, who chased the thieves. As they ran away, they dropped two of the paintings, "Madame Pichon" and "Coco Reading", in the museum gardens. "Coco Reading" shows Renoir's young son, Claude. Investigators then started a search across the whole country. Renoir's works are extremely valuable, and some have sold for tens of millions of dollars at auction.

It is still not clear how the missing paintings were found. The mayor did not give any details, and the police and prosecutors did not immediately answer questions from reporters. The theft had reminded many people of last year's dramatic robbery of crown jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris. It also led to new calls for better security and more money for museums and other cultural sites across France. For now, though, Cagnes-sur-Mer is celebrating the recovery of the two paintings.