Thieves recently stole three paintings worth over $10 million from a small Italian museum, including works by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse, completing the operation in just three minutes. The theft follows last year's heist at Paris' Louvre Museum, where criminals stole $104 million worth of France's crown jewels, which remain missing despite arrests.
Geoffrey Kelly, an original FBI Art Crime Team member, explains that most art thefts are carried out by local criminals attracted by "big dollar signs" rather than sophisticated specialists. These typically involve "smash-and-grab" operations targeting aging museum infrastructure, making the actual theft appear deceptively simple.