Paintings by Renoir, Cézanne, and Matisse worth millions were stolen in a heist on a museum near the Italian city of Parma, police say.

Four masked men entered the Magnani Rocca Foundation villa on 22 March, police reported, making off with Les Poissons by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Still Life with Cherries by Paul Cézanne, and Odalisque on the Terrace by Henri Matisse.

The gang was in and out in the space of three minutes, with Italian media suggesting they were interrupted only by the museum's alarm system, which prevented them from stealing more.

This incident marks the latest in a series of high-profile art thefts, following the brazen daylight robbery of priceless jewels from the Louvre in Paris last October.

The thieves in last weekend's robbery forced their way through the main door of the Villa dei Capolavori, nestled in the Parma countryside, and stole the paintings from the French Room on the building's first floor, according to reports from Italian media.

The institution remarked that the gang appeared structured and organised and seemed to have intended to steal more were it not for the private collection's alarms going off and police being alerted.

The criminals fled the scene by climbing over a fence, as per reports from the regional public broadcaster TGR, which first covered the theft.

Authorities estimated the combined worth of the stolen paintings at €9 million (£7.8 million), with Les Poissons alone valued at €6 million, making it one of the most significant art thefts in Italian history in recent years.

Renoir was known as a leading figure in the Impressionist movement, completing the oil-on-canvas Les Poissons around 1917.

The Cézanne painting, completed circa 1890, is noted for its use of watercolour—a medium the artist only embraced later in life—making it a rare piece among his cherry-themed still lifes.

Odalisque on the Terrace, painted in 1922, depicts two figures, one reclining in the sun and another with a violin.

The theft is now under investigation by Italy's Carabinieri and the Cultural Heritage Protection Unit of Bologna, with news of this brazen heist made public on Sunday.

The Magnani Rocca Foundation was established after the death of Luigi Magnani, a composer and art collector, in 1984 in his family home.