French police hunt thief of five art masterpieces

Police are hunting for clues as to who carried out the brazen theft

French police are hunting the burglar or burglars who made off with paintings by Picasso, Matisse and other great artists from a Paris museum.

Officials have admitted the Museum of Modern Art's alarm system had not been fully functioning for several weeks.

One masked intruder was spotted by security cameras, climbing into the museum through a broken side window, having cut through a gate padlock.

The paintings are estimated to be worth just under 100m euros (£86m; $123m).

But experts say the thieves would struggle to sell the paintings on the open market because they are so well known.