Two thieves broke into a museum dedicated to French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir in southern France, stealing four artworks before fleeing the scene.

"This morning, two individuals broke into the Renoir Museum and stole four works of art," said Bryan Masson, the mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer.

One of the stolen paintings was dropped as the suspects fled. "Spotted thanks to the town's video surveillance cameras, the two individuals fled, abandoning one of the stolen paintings as they ran," Masson said. His office estimated the value of the stolen works at approximately 9 million euros (7.7 million pounds).

The mayor said authorities responded within minutes of the alarm being triggered. "The museum alarm went off at 5.48 am. At 5.53 am, just five minutes later, our municipal police were on the scene," he said.

According to reports, the thieves may have gained entry by breaking a window. The police organised crime squad is handling the case.

The Renoir Museum opened in 1960 in the painter's last home before his death in 1919. Its collection includes personal objects and furniture that belonged to Renoir, among them his easel and wheelchair, as well as portraits, landscapes and nudes painted by the artist.

The theft comes less than a year after eight items valued at around 88 million euros were stolen during a daylight robbery from the Louvre in Paris. Four suspects in that case have been arrested, but the stolen items have not been recovered despite extensive searches in the Paris region and exchanges with police in Belgium, Italy and other countries.

Europol said last month that art thieves across Europe are committing increasingly violent robberies, and that specialist gangs have been replaced by ad-hoc opportunists recruited through social media.