Wave of art heists sweeps across Europe

A painting theft from a Renoir museum in France is the latest in a wave of high-value objets d’art heists across Europe, where thieves are increasingly resorting to violence, Europol says

Oct 19, 2025; Paris, France
Thieves use vehicle-mounted lift to raid Apollo Gallery of Musée du Louvre in daylight, smashing cases and stealing eight French Crown Jewellery pieces worth €88m. Four suspects arrested; jewels unrecovered

Mar 22-23, 2026; Parma, Italy
Four masked men steal three paintings by Cézanne, Renoir and Matisse, worth more than €9m from Fondazione Magnani Rocca. Recovered in Aug 2026

Jul 5; Wingen-sur-Moder, France
Three masked thieves break into museum of French luxury glassmaker Lalique, stealing 27 rare pieces of Art Nouveau and Art Deco jewellery valued at around €4.5m

Aug 15; Messina, Sicily: Thieves exploit religious festival to steal four works by Renaissance master Antonello da Messina, including three panels of Polyptych of San Gregorio and double-sided devotional painting, valued at €70-80m

Aug 27; Villena, Spain: Thieves make four-minute raid, stealing 66 mostly gold objects from Treasure of Villena (above), Europe’s greatest Bronze Age gold hoard. Gold worth €1.7m; archaeological value immeasurable

Aug 27; Vienna, Austria
Two men smash Museum of Applied Arts display case during opening hours and steal 673-diamond necklace (left) made for Queen Nazli of Egypt, worth $4.3m

Sep 8; Cagnes-sur-Mer, France
Two thieves steal two paintings, including The portrait of Madame Colonna Romano (left) worth millions of euros after breaking at dawn into Renoir Museum on French Riviera through hole made in garden fence

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Source: Reuters, BBC, Museums Association, Europol
Pictures: Getty Images, Enrique Íñiguez, Austrian Federal Criminal Police Office, Renoir Museum
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