Art thieves have struck again in France by stealing five pictures, including a Picasso lithograph, from the home of an art collector in Marseille only a day after a major heist in Paris.

 

French police said Saturday the owner was beaten up at his home in southern France on Friday. The theft comes just after an audacious art heist in Paris in which five major works of art, worth up to $124 million in total, were taken from a city museum.

 

In the Marseille robbery, the most important work was the lithograph of a woman's face, painted by Picasso. The other pieces are reportedly by less renowned artists and no dollar value has been put on the stolen works.

 

Officials say the robbery is likely the work of criminal gangs, who will either try to extort money from France for their return or use the paintings as pawns for trade in drugs or weapons.