Three Minutes. Three Masterpieces. How Thieves Pulled Off A $10M Art Grab.

Another devastating blow to the European art world was unveiled after thieves broke into a private Italian museum, making off with three masterpieces in a heist last week that lasted only three minutes, officials said on Monday.

The robbery took place the night of March 22 at the Magnani Rocca Foundation in the Italian countryside near the city of Parma. The three stolen artworks by renowned French artists are worth roughly $10 million: “Les Poissons” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, “Still Life with Cherries” by Paul Cézanne, and “Odalisque on the Terrace” by Henri Matisse. A fourth piece was abandoned at the scene, according to the New York Times.

Four hooded thieves reportedly entered the museum through the front door, where they snagged the art from the French Gallery on the first floor. After they were interrupted by the museum’s security system, the group then escaped across the gardens and climbed over a fence to freedom.

From start to finish, the entire theft took just three minutes.

“Still Life with Cherries” by Paul Cézanne

Magnani Rocca Foundation, via Reuters

“Odalisque on the Terrace” by Henri Matisse

Magnani Rocca Foundation/Reuters

The museum believes a “structured and organized” gang was responsible, though the heist was “not completed” because of the quick response from local authorities. There have been no arrests in the days since, and the museum has continued operating as usual.

A police spokesman told CNN the officials kept the heist a secret in hopes of catching the thieves if they returned.

It has been less than six months since the infamous Louvre heist transpired in Paris, France, where thieves stole $102 million worth of jewels and other items in the middle of the day. A lawyer for the foundation told CNN that the latest theft may have been inspired by the apparent “ease” of the previous crime.