A painting by Edgar Degas on loan from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, was stolen from a Marseille museum overnight, the city's prosecutor said.

The French impressionist painting, titled Les Choristes, was missing when employees arrived at the Musée Cantini de Marseille this morning.

France's national museum service said the paining is worth £710,000($1.15 million), well below original local police estimates of £26million ($42.2 million).

The painting belongs to the Musee d'Orsay and had been loaned tothe museum in southern France for an exhibition of Degas works runningthrough Jan. 3, and was scheduled to travel to Italy and Canada.Painted around 1876, the pastel depicts a chorus line of male singers.

Marseille public prosecutor Jacques Dallest said there were no signs of a break-in and that authorities suspect a museum visitor or an inside job. The museum was closed Thursday and will remain shut during the investigation, officials said.

The Musee d'Orsay, which has been loaning out many works in recent months to shore up funds, declined to comment on the theft.