Crime / art heist Paris Heist Museum's Alarm Was On the Fritz System 'partially malfunctioning' since March By John Johnson, Newser Staff Posted May 21, 2010 5:21 AM CDT Copied Police officers search for clues as they pack up the frames of the stolen paintings outside the Paris Museum of Modern Art. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon) So how does a lone thief manage to steal five masterpieces from a museum? It doesn't help when the alarm isn't working. The mayor of Paris says one of the systems at the Museum of Modern Art had been "partially malfunctioning" since March, reports ABC News of Australia. The investigation continues into the $150 million heist of works by Picasso, Matisse, and others. (More art heist stories.) Report an error