Two thieves broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, on Tuesday.

They stole four paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

They cut through a fence.

Then they entered through a window.

The theft took less than three minutes.

When the thieves ran away, they left two paintings in the museum garden.

The two missing paintings are "Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano" and "Young Woman at the Well."

The paintings they found are "Portrait of Madame Pichon" and "Coco Reading."

Mayor Bryan Masson said the four works are worth about 9 million euros.

That is about $10.5 million.

The museum is in Renoir's old home.

He lived there until he died in 1919.

The alarm went off at 5:48 a.m.

Police arrived five minutes later.

The mayor said the police came quickly, so the thieves had to run away.

The Marseille prosecutor started an investigation.

It is about theft by an organized gang.

At least two of the stolen works have a difficult past.

Authorities think Nazis took "Young Woman at the Well" during World War II.

It was found again in 1949.

A German officer gave "Coco Reading" to a soldier at the end of the war.

Germany returned it to France in 1994.

Art theft expert James Ratcliffe said museums do not have enough money.

This is a big problem, especially for smaller museums.

He said the recent Louvre theft showed criminals that museums are easy targets.

Ratcliffe added that the thieves will find it almost impossible to sell the Renoirs.

They cannot easily go to art dealers with stolen works.