Last fall, brazen thieves made off with some of the French Crown Jewels that were housed at the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre. Valued at more than $102 million, the jewels were taken in a bold but low-tech theft. The criminals used a furniture lift to enter the viewing room through an unlocked window and made off with the jewels in under seven minutes. Some of those suspects were apprehended in October. It was unclear then if any of the stolen items were recovered, items which included jewels belonging to Empress Marie Louise, the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The pieces were likely dismantled or transformed to avoid detection.

Now thieves have struck again, this time stealing four pieces of art from a Renoir museum on the French Riviera. That art is valued at more than £8 million.

Authorities say the suspects ultimately left two pieces behind in the museum's garden. The four pieces removed from the Renoir museum are Portrait of Madame Pichon, Coco Lisant, Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano, and Jeune fille au puits.

The latter two are still missing. You can see images of them here.

Recommended
You'll Never Guess Who Gavin Newsom Blames for California's Bad Reputation Amy Curtis The Eiffel Tower Was Closed, and the Reason Why Is Bad News for French Women Amy Curtis

According to the BBC, the theft comes just months after four masked men stole Les Poissons, another Renoir piece, Still Life with Cherries by Paul Cézanne, and Odalisque on the Terrace by Henri Matisse from the Magnani Rocca Foundation Villa in Parma, Italy.

Authorities say the French thieves were "clearly organized, equipped, and well-informed," using an electric knife and hacksaw to cut through a fence. According to Mayor Bryan Masson, the thieves were also wearing "helmets, gloves, and combat gear" to carry out the crime.

This is reportedly the fifth such art heist since last October. Shortly after the Louvre theft, criminals stole 2,000 gold and silver coins from Maison des Lumières Denis Diderot, valued at €90,000–$100,000. In July of this year, masked thieves used sledgehammers to smash display cases at Musée Lalique and stole more than two dozen pieces of jewelry and crystal worth about €4.5 million. That same month, thieves stole a 2,500-year-old gold Vix torque (a Celtic necklace) from Musée du Pays Châtillonnais.