When thieves broke into a museum on the French Riviera last Tuesday and took two paintings by Impressionist master Pierre-Auguste Renoir, President Emmanuel Macron was just a few kilometers away, presiding over a conference on how to save the film industry. The theft, the latest in a series of heists since the spectacular crown jewel robbery at the Louvre last October, showed that France faces a greater challenge in protecting its artistic treasures.
Chinese porcelain, Huguenot crosses, gold and silver coins, Art Nouveau jewelry pieces, and a shirt worn by soccer star Zinedine Zidane at the World Cup have already been stolen from large and small museums across the country. The theft wave has also reached churches, where people have stolen chalices, communion plates, and other religious relics.
Museum officials, police, and government authorities are alarmed by the situation. They are concerned about how to protect the country's cultural heritage in the face of this growing wave of crimes against French cultural and religious institutions.
