Paintings worth millions stolen from Paris museum

PARIS (AP) -- A thief stole five paintings possibly worth hundreds of millions of euros, including major works by Picasso and Matisse, in a brazen overnight heist at a Paris modern art museum, police and prosecutors said Thursday.

The paintings disappeared early Thursday from the Paris Museum of Modern Art, across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower in one of the French capital's most chic and tourist-frequented neighborhoods.

The museum's security system, including some of the surveillance cameras, had been broken for the past few days, according to a police official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is under way.

Christophe Girard, deputy culture secretary at Paris City Hall, confirmed that the security system was disabled at the time of the theft, and said a single masked intruder was caught on a video surveillance camera.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the intruder was operating alone, Girard told reporters, who suggested the heist was carried out by a very "sophisticated" team or individual. He said three guards were on duty overnight but "they saw nothing."

The intruder entered by cutting a padlock on a gate and breaking a museum window, the Paris prosecutor's office said.

The prosecutor's office initially estimated the five paintings' total worth at as much as euro500 million ($613 million).

By ANGELA CHARLTON
Associated Press Writer