Gold, gems and Renoirs: France's museums grapple with a wave of smash-and-grab thefts
Museums are seeking costly security upgrades as thieves increasingly target gold, jewelry and paintings they can resell or melt down, Europol said.
- On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, thieves cut a fence and entered the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, stealing two paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir valued at $10.5 million.
- A record 10 museum burglaries struck France this summer, with criminals increasingly viewing cultural institutions as soft targets following last year's Louvre jewel heist.
- European police agency Europol reports heists are becoming more violent, with sledgehammers and explosives used for break-ins; criminals believe "museum security measures are less robust than those in jewelry stores," it said.
- Since a July 5 theft, the Lalique Museum in Wingen-sur-Moder has remained closed, with Director Véronique Brumm Schaich seeking €200,000 for security upgrades and noting, "Robbers' tactics are evolving."
- Guillaume Poitrinal, president of the Fondation du patrimoine, argued that protecting cultural heritage requires investment, stating, "We need to make it more difficult to steal works of art.
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Gold, gems and Renoirs: France's museums grapple with a wave of thefts
PARIS — At a museum in eastern France, two men disguised with wigs used a sledgehammer and a hammer to smash a display case and make off with a 2,500-year-old gold necklace. The heist took under four minutes. In a smash-and-grab at another French museum, three masked robbers stole 27 pieces of jewelry valued at more than 4.5 million euros ($5.2 million), busting through two doors to break in. Those thefts took place in July. This week, thieves s…
Gold, gems and Renoir: France's museums grapple with wave of smash-and-grab thefts
A series of art heists in France has highlighted the country's struggle to protect its cultural treasures. In eastern France, two men disguised with wigs stole a 2,500-year-old gold necklace.
El Vocero de Puerto Rico
In a museum in eastern France, two men dressed in wigs used a mallet and a hammer to smash a showcase and run away with a 2,500-year-old gold necklace. The robbery lasted less than four years.
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