Two individuals broke into the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, a town on the French Riviera, early Tuesday and made off with three paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir after initially taking four.

The alarm sounded at 5:48 a.m. local time. Municipal police arrived five minutes later, according to a statement from Mayor Bryan Masson. The thieves were captured on the town's video surveillance cameras and fled after dropping one painting in the museum garden.

The dropped work is the "Portrait de Madame Stephen Pichon." The three missing paintings are "Madame Colonna Romano," "La Jeune Femme au puits," and "Coco lisant." The mayor's office estimated the value of the stolen works at 9 million euros.

The museum occupies the final home of the Impressionist painter, who died there in 1919. Its collection includes 13 paintings and about 40 sculptures by Renoir along with family furnishings and photographs.

The theft occurred less than a year after a daylight robbery at the Louvre in Paris that took eight items valued at around 88 million euros. French authorities have faced a series of high-profile thefts from cultural sites in recent months.

Masson said the incident underscores the need for stronger museum security measures. An investigation has been opened by prosecutors in Grasse, and both municipal and national police are involved in the search for the perpetrators.

No arrests have been reported as of Tuesday.