A scrap of genetic material on a discarded painting cover allowed French investigators to track down two stolen Renoirs and to uncover what they suspected were preparations for a further art heist, a prosecutor said on Monday.
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prosecutor → discard → Monday
Nicolas Bessone, the Marseille prosecutor, said four men had been given preliminary charges over the theft from the small Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a town on the French Riviera, on September 8.
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men → say → September
The charges, he said, include organized theft and criminal association.
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he → say → theft
Bessone estimated the paintings' combined value at 4.2 million euros ($4.7 million).
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Bessone → estimate → euros
One of the two works, “Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano,” suffered a tear, he said.
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he → suffer → tear
The other, “Young Woman at the Well,” had slight damage to its frame.
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other → have → frame
According to the prosecutor, the thieves used an electric saw to cut through a fence before entering the museum through the ground floor.
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thieves → accord → floor
They then cut the clips securing the frames of four paintings.
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They → cut → paintings
An alarm sounded, and police officers arrived four minutes later — a swift response that “apparently caused the perpetrators to panic,” Bessone said.
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Bessone → sound → ?
"As they fled, they were unable to take all four paintings and abandoned two of them, which were later found in a protective sleeve,” he said.
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he → flee → sleeve
The DNA found on the abandoned cover matched that of a 29-year-old already under investigation in a drug trafficking case in which police were tracking his vehicle, Bessone said.
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Bessone → find → vehicle
That vehicle-tracking data showed the suspect, accompanied by a 41-year-old man, went to the home of a third man shortly after the theft, the prosecutor said.
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prosecutor → track → theft
Police surveillance also showed that the 29-year-old visited the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence on Oct. 3.
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old → show → Oct.
The suspect then met with a fourth man known to police from art theft and forgery cases in 2001 and 2003.
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suspect → meet → 2001
Bessone said the arrests were prompted by the “very strong suspicion that another heist was imminent.”
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heist → say → suspicion
The two men suspected of carrying out the museum theft have been given preliminary charges of “theft committed by an organized gang” and “criminal association,” among other counts.
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men → suspect → counts
They were sent to prison pending further investigation.
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They → send → investigation
The pair have denied wrongdoing, Bessone said.
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Bessone → deny → wrongdoing
A third suspect acknowledged receiving the paintings at his home after the theft and hiding them behind a wall built beneath a staircase.
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suspect → acknowledge → staircase
Investigators recovered the Renoirs from that hiding place, Bessone said.
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Bessone → recover → place
The fourth suspect acknowledged seeing photographs of the paintings but said he did not immediately recognize them.
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he → acknowledge → them
Both of those suspects were given preliminary charges of “concealment” of stolen paintings.
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Both → give → paintings
They were released under judicial supervision and barred from leaving France.
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They → release → France
Two additional people who had been arrested were released without charge.
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who → arrest → charge
The Renoir Museum occupies the final home of the leading French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who lived there until his death in 1919.
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who → occupy → 1919
It is the best-known attraction in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a Mediterranean coastal town between Cannes and Nice.
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It → know → Cannes
The theft revived painful memories of the spectacular theft of crown jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris last year.
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theft → revive → Paris
It also renewed calls for better security and funding at the many cultural sites across France.
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It → renew → France
Christian Sainte, national director of judicial police, said on Monday that the country “is repeatedly targeted by organized criminal groups that carry out theft operations targeting valuable objects that are part of our cultural heritage” in museums, castles, places of worship, private homes and art galleries.
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that → say → worship
French museums recorded 23 cases in 2025 and about 10 this year, he said.
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he → record → 2025
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