Thieves steal 4 Renaissance artworks from Sicilian museum during an Italian holiday

Four paintings of "extraordinary value" which date back to the Renaissance have been stolen from a museum late Saturday in Sicily, Italy.

Police are now probing how the thieves were able to enter the museum without triggering its alarms and who may have been responsible.

The thieves bypassed alarm and security systems Saturday evening at the MuMe regional museum to make off with three of the five surviving panels of the San Gregorio Polyptych, dated from 1473, as well as the double-sided panel depicting the Virgin Mary and dead Christ in Pietà, which was removed from an armored display case, LaPresse reported.

Most importantly, the polyptych- a painting divided into separate sanctions, was composed of at least five varied sections and were devastated after an earthquake in 1908.