Thieves steal 4 Renoirs from a French museum. 2 of the paintings are still missing

PARIS (AP) — Two thieves sliced through a fence, climbed through a window and stole four valuable Renoir paintings Tuesday from a small museum on the French Riviera, but abandoned two of the artworks as they fled, authorities said. Investigators launched a national search for the perpetrators.

The whole operation took less than three minutes and targeted the most valuable works in the Renoir Museum in the town of Cagnes-sur-Mer, the regional prosecutor's office said.

The theft conjured up painful memories of the spectacular heist of crown jewels at the Louvre Museum in Paris last year and revived calls for better security a nd better funding for the many cultural sites large and small that dot France's landscape.

Cagnes-sur-Mer Mayor Bryan Masson estimated the value of the combined Renoir works stolen Tuesday at 9 million euros ($10.5 million), but art theft experts warned they will be extremely hard to sell.

The Renoir Museum is housed in the last home of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, where he lived before his death in 1919. It’s the most famous attraction in Cagnes-sur-Mer, situated between Cannes and Nice on the Mediterranean coast.

The “well-equipped” and “well-informed” thieves entered the Renoir Museum via the garden, Masson told reporters at the scene.

They sliced through a fence with an electric knife or saw, entered the museum through the ground floor, and then cut the clips securing the artwork frames, Masson said in remarks carried by local broadcaster Ici Azur.

The museum’s alarm system went off at 5:48 a.m. local time, and police arrived five minutes later, the mayor said. Their swift arrival “forced the burglars to flee in haste and helped limit the scale of the theft,” the mayor said in a written statement sent to The Associated Press.

Two of the stolen works were found dropped in the museum garden — Renoir's ’’Portrait of Madame Pichon″ and “Coco Reading,'' the prosecutor's office said in a statement. The two still missing are “Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano” and “Young Woman at the Well.”

At least two of the works targeted Tuesday had a troubled history.

″Young Woman at the Well″ is believed to have been looted by the Nazis during World War II, and was recovered in Bavaria in 1949 and brought back to France, according to the French Culture Ministry database of spoliated art.

A German officer in Paris gave ″Coco Reading″ to a German soldier at the end of the war under orders to take it to Germany, according to the database. The soldier later gave it to a German priest, who handed it over to a Berlin museum in 1972. Germany’s government returned it to France in 1994.

The Cagnes-sur-Mer museum had 12 works by Renoir in total, the mayor said. The museum was closed Tuesday while the investigation unfolded.

The Marseille prosecutor opened an investigation into theft by an organized gang. The French national office for traffic in cultural goods is joining the investigation.

“This incident should serve as a warning about the protection of our museums,” the mayor said.

Art theft expert James Ratcliffe of the Art Loss Register told the AP that underfunding is the main problem facing museums everywhere, not just in France. And smaller museums are especially exposed because of their limited finances.

‘’The theft of the Louvre has demonstrated to everybody with criminal intent that museums are potentially soft targets,'' he said. ‘’People are looking at museums differently.''

Unlike the Louvre heist or other recent museum thefts targeting gold or jewels that can be melted down or recut, the Renoir theft leaves the thieves in a predicament.

‘’Although the (paintings) are valuable, and will have probably seven figures attached to them in terms of the financial value, trying to find a buyer who will pay that is going to be almost impossible for them,'' Ratcliffe said.

‘’Unless they have a plan for that in advance, they’re not going to be able to just go to an art dealer and say, ‘Look, I’ve got these two nice Renoirs, would you like to buy them?’ ''

The Renoir Museum is pictured after thieves stole four valuable Renoir paintings, in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

A barrier tape is set on the fence of the Renoir Museum after thieves stole four valuable Renoir paintings, in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

The entrance of the Renoir Museum where thieves stole four valuable Renoir paintings, in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

The entrance of the Renoir Museum is pictured after thieves stole four valuable Renoir paintings, in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

A police car is parked in front of the Renoir Museum after thieves stole four valuable Renoir paintings, in Cagnes-sur-Mer, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

CLEVELAND (AP) — Gavin Williams struck out 12, José Ramírez homered on a pitch just above home plate and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 2-0 Saturday night to complete a comeback from an 0-2 deficit in their best-of-five AL Division Series.

Cleveland opens the AL Championship Series at Tampa Bay on Monday night, seeking its first World Series trip since 2016. The Guardians/Indians franchise hasn’t won the title since 1948, the longest drought among MLB teams.

Guardians pitchers struck out 21, the most in a nine-inning postseason game. The White Sox got just three hits, putting only nine balls in play, and struck out 75 times over the series.

Two days after getting the save in Game 4, Williams became just the third pitcher in postseason history to get the last out of a game and start the following game when his team faced elimination in both.

He didn’t allow a hit until Kyle Teel looped a knuckle-curve into right field with two outs in the sixth, two innings after Ramírez homered for the second straight game, a two-run drive off Sean Burke.

After a walk loaded the bases, Erik Sabrowski relieved and struck out Munetaka Murakami.

Williams’ 12 strikeouts tied Cleveland’s record for a postseason game. He got 22 swings and misses, and his 24 strikeouts over three games tied for second-most in a best-of-five postseason series.

Hunter Gaddis followed Sabrowsk and got four outs. Cade Smith finished for his first career five-out save, striking out the side in the ninth. He blew a fastball by Tristan Peters for the final out, setting off a celebration at Progressive Field.

Chicago, the first team to reach the playoffs after three straight 100-loss seasons, has not won the World Series since 2004.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami walks back to the dugout after striking out in the sixth inning of Game 5 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Cleveland Guardians, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Guardians' Petey Halpin is tagged out at third base by Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas (20) during the fifth inning of Game 5 of baseball's American League Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams walks to the dugout during the second inning of Game 5 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez celebrates after hitting a home run in the fourth inning of Game 5 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Guardians third baseman José Ramírez celebrates after hitting a home run in the fourth inning of Game 5 of baseball's American League Division Series against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)