Rome, August 16 (QNA) - Four artworks by Italian painter Antonello da Messina, one of the leading artists of the Renaissance, were stolen from the Regional Museum of Messina in Sicily after it was broken into overnight, Italian authorities said.

The authorities added that unknown individuals managed to bypass the alarm systems and gain access to the galleries in a highly precise heist.

Consequently, police launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the heist and are working to establish the chronology of events and collect evidence that could help identify those involved.

In addition, the authorities had announced days earlier the recovery of three paintings by French masters Paul Cezanne, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Matisse, worth more than EUR 9 million, after they were stolen in March from a museum near Parma in northern Italy. (QNA)