Police in Italy have recovered three paintings by famous artists worth millions of euros that were stolen from a private museum near the northern city of Parma.

Artwork by Renoir, Cézanne and Matisse were all recovered.

The three recovered paintings are Fish by Auguste Renoir, Still Life with Cherries by Paul Cézanne, and Odalisque on the Terrace by Henri Matisse. Authorities said the Cézanne was valued at €6m ($7m), the Renoir at €3m ($3.5m), and the Matisse at €20,000 ($23,000).

A statement from the Italian Carabinieri’s art recovery squad said the paintings were discovered during searches ordered by prosecutors, but no details were given. The investigation is ongoing.

The heist at the Magnani Rocca Foundation, about 20km (12 miles) from Parma, took place on the night of 22-23 March, with thieves forcing open the entrance door, police said.

Four masked thieves broke into the villa and removed the artworks in the middle of the night.

Local media reported that the thieves took the paintings in less than three minutes and escaped across the museum gardens.

The museum believes a structured and organized gang was responsible for the theft.

The thieves were interrupted by the museum’s alarm system, which drew police and security officers, but they escaped across the museum gardens and scaled a fence, according to the broadcaster TGR.

Renoir, a pioneer of the Impressionist movement, completed Les Poissons in around 1917. Cézanne’s Still Life with Cherries, finished in around 1890, is particularly rare because it makes use of watercolour, which the artist only pursued in the final years of his life, according to the foundation.

The Magnani Rocca Foundation, founded in 1977, holds the collection of the art historian and composer Luigi Magnani. It includes the works of famous artists including Dürer, Rubens, Van Dyck, Goya and Monet.

The crime followed a series of high-profile heists at major European museums, including the theft in October of French crown jewels and other items worth €88m ($101m) from the Louvre in Paris.