Renoir paintings stolen from French museum in overnight heist

Thieves have stolen four paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir from a museum in France in an overnight raid. The BBC and the Independent both report the theft, with the works said to be worth millions.

The museum has not been named in the reports available, and no detail on how the thieves gained entry or when the theft was discovered has yet been released. French police are investigating.

Art heists of this scale are rare but not unprecedented in France, which holds some of the world's most valuable collections in state and regional museums. Security at smaller institutions has long been a tension between access and protection - the principle that the public should be able to see the work, and the reality that some works are too valuable to leave unguarded. The last major theft of Impressionist work from a French museum was over a decade ago, and most pieces were eventually recovered.

What to watch: whether the stolen works appear on the black market, and whether French authorities name the museum and release details of the security breach. Renoir's work is highly recognisable, which makes it difficult to sell but increases the likelihood of recovery if the theft was commissioned rather than opportunistic.