A French court has sentenced five men to prison for snatching a Monet and other precious paintings right off the walls of a museum.

In 2007, the band grabbed paintings by Claude Monet, fellow Impressionist George Sisley and 17th-century master Jan Brueghel the Elder from the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Nice during lunchtime.

The FBI later helped retrieve the paintings when the thieves tried to sell them.

On Friday, the five men were sentenced to between two and nine years for armed robbery and reception of stolen goods by an organized gang. A sixth man is already serving time in Miami for his role in the theft.