2010 Paris Modern Art Museum Burglary

The 2010 Paris Modern Art Museum burglary was a daring heist that occurred in the early hours of May 20, 2010. A lone thief targeted valuable paintings by Picasso, Braque, Léger, Matisse, and Modigliani, collectively worth an estimated €100 million. Due to the absence of a modern security system, the burglar effortlessly shattered a window and extracted the artworks from their frames without encountering any obstacles.

The break-in came to light at 7 a.m. the next day. Despite security personnel being present on the premises during the robbery, they neither detected any unauthorized entry nor observed the absence of paintings or the broken window. The stolen paintings remained missing for over a year, but in August 2011, they were discovered hidden in a suitcase in a parked car in a Paris suburb. The thief, a Serbian named Vjéran Tomic, was dubbed "Spiderman" due to his climbing abilities. He was arrested and later sentenced to eight years in prison. The recovered artworks were later returned to the museum.