$10M Renoir Museum heist: 3 paintings stolen in France

Another heist hit the Renoir Museum, France on early Tuesday in which thieves stole three valuable art paintings.

According to Mayor Bryan Masson posted on Facebook, the robbers broke into the museum a little before 6 am and stole four paintings. But they dropped the fourth one as they tried to flee from the crime scene.

“Spotted thanks to the town’s video surveillance cameras, the two individuals fled, abandoning one of the stolen paintings as they ran,” he said.

The mayor's office says the estimated value of the stolen art is 9m euros ($7.7m; $10.5m), French media reports.

The police spotted the thieves and gave chase. During the pursuit, the suspects dropped one painting but managed to escape with the other three, he noted.

"Since this morning, both the municipal and national police have been deployed to the site.

"The perpetrators are being actively sought, and the investigation is ongoing.”

"Targeting the Renoir museum is an attack on the history and heritage of Cagnes-sur-Mer. These actions are exceptionally grave," Masson stated in his message.

The mayor also called for the implementation of urgent measures based on a comprehensive plan to secure our museums and protect the works of art and heritage.

Renoir museum was established in 1960 in the mansion of the ​impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir on a hill in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice.

The museum displays 13 paintings from the master and some 40 sculptures, photographs and furniture.

The robbery follows a heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris in October last year when thieves stole €88 million ($102.3 million) worth of jewels, such as Empress Eugenie's tiara.