PARIS –
A lone hooded man who squirmed through a broken window and evaded
security
alarms stole five paintings by Picasso, Matisse and
other artists overnight Wednesday
from the Paris Museum of Modern Art, in a brash theft valued somewhere
between
$100 million and $125 million. Museum officials discovered the theft
shortly
before 7 a.m. Thursday, and said they had captured video images of the
black-clad burglar as he stole into the museum’s Art Deco building,
which sits
across from the Seine and near the Eiffel Tower. The burglary — which
triggered
no electronic alarms — immediately raised fresh questions about museum
security
in the French capital.