NANTERRE, France — French investigators recovered two Pierre-Auguste Renoir paintings stolen from a museum on the French Riviera after using DNA evidence, mobile-phone geolocation and surveillance footage, prosecutors said Monday.

Police arrested six people in early October. Four men have since received preliminary charges connected to the theft, concealment or attempted sale of the works, according to Reuters. The charges are allegations and the suspects have not been convicted.

Paintings found behind a false wall

The works — Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano and Young Woman at the Well — were found hidden behind a false wall in a house. Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone valued them together at about €4.2 million.

Both paintings were damaged and will require restoration. Bessone said the Colonna Romano portrait had been torn. France’s Culture Ministry has transferred the works to the Centre for Interdisciplinary Heritage Conservation and Restoration in Marseille for detailed examination before any return to the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer.

Visit to another museum accelerated arrests

The theft happened before dawn on September 8. Investigators say thieves entered the museum grounds through a hole cut in a garden fence and reached the building through a window.

Two other Renoir paintings were abandoned in the museum garden as the thieves fled after alarms brought police to the site. The stolen works were recovered about one month later.

Police moved sooner than planned to arrest the suspects after the person described by investigators as the principal suspect visited another museum. Prosecutors said that raised fears of a second theft. The suspects denied planning another raid.

Recovered works tied to postwar restitution

The Culture Ministry said the two paintings are part of France’s Musées Nationaux Récupération collection, which holds works recovered after the Second World War while authorities continue efforts to identify their rightful owners or heirs.

Sources: Reuters, published October 12 at 9:25 a.m. EDT; French Ministry of Culture, October 12; French Ministry of Culture statement on the September 8 theft.

Lead image: Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Jeune femme au puits (Young Woman at the Well) via Wikimedia Commons, public domain; one of the recovered paintings.