Thief Steals Picasso, Matisse Paintings From Museum of Modern Art in Paris

(May 20) -- A broken window and a smashed grille were the first clues that led to the discovery early today that five paintings worth $613 million, including a Picasso and a Matisse, were stolen sometime overnight from the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

A surveillance camera later showed a single, hooded and masked man climbing into the museum and stealing the artwork, Paris prosecutors told The Associated Press. He reportedly cut the paintings from their frames when he took them. It wasn't immediately clear if the thief was working alone or might have had accomplices inside the museum.

Police sealed off the museum where the five paintings, Le Pigeon aux Petits Pois by Picasso; La Pastorale by Matisse; L'Olivier Pres de l'Estaque by Braque; La Femme a l'Eventail by Modigliani, and Nature Morte aux Chandeliers by Leger, were stolen. The museum is just across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower.

The burglary was discovered just before 7 a.m. and is being investigated by detectives from France's elite Investi Brigade de Répression du Banditisme. Paintings by Picasso are among the most-frequently stolen, in part because he was so prolific and so many of them exist.

The paintings are so famous that it's unlikely they could be sold on the open market, Le Monde reported. Sometimes, such well-known paintings are stolen on command for private collectors, the newspaper said.

Museum staffers working for low pay are often suspected of helping art thieves, according to London's Daily Mail.

The Museum of Modern Art in Paris, which opened in 1961, has the reputation of being one of the most secure in the world.

A notice on the museum doors today said "Closed for technical reasons," the Times Online reported.

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