Thieves steal Renoir paintings worth nearly £8m from museum in south of France
it is understood the paintings taken are the Coco Lisant, a portrait of the artist's young son from 1905, Madame Colonna Romano from 1910 and Jeune Femme au puits, The Young Woman at the Well, which was completed in 1886
Thieves have broken into a museum of work by French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, stealing four works of art worth an estimated £7.7m (€9 million).
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The mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, located in the south of France, says the estimated value of the stolen works is 9 million euros.
Alarms at the museum were triggered just before 6am today local time.
A manhunt is on the way for two thieves behind the break-in.
As they fled, the thieves were forced to leave behind one of the stolen paintings.
The mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Bryan Masson, said: "We will dedicate all necessary resources to better protect this heritage, which belongs to all the residents of Cagnes."
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The museum was created in 1960 in the mansion of the impressionist painter on a hill in Cagnes-sur-Mer, near Nice, where he died in 1919.
The collection on display in the museum includes 13 paintings from the master and some 40 sculptures, furniture and photographs.
Masson did not identify the paintings that were stolen however it is understood they are: Coco Lisant, a portrait of the artist's young son from 1905, Madame Colonna Romano from 1910 and Jeune Femme au puits, The Young Woman at the Well, which was completed in 1886.
The painting the thieves left behind was Portrait of Madame Stephen Pichon, from 1895.
Renoir's most valuable works have fetched dozens of millions of dollars at auctions in the past.
Art thieves in Europe are committing more and more robberies and specialist gangs have been replaced by ad hoc opportunists recruited through social media, according to Europol.
In a high-profile heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris in October last year thieves threatened guards and visitors and stole €88 million ($102.3 million) worth of jewels, including Empress Eugenie's tiara.