E-Paper
8 pieces of 19th century royal jewels gone in 7 minutes: Inside Paris's Louvre heist
President Emmanuel Macron said that efforts were on to catch the criminals and recover the stolen treasures.
In a dramatic series of events, eight priceless royal pieces of jewellery were stolen from the Louvre Museum in the heart of Paris in broad daylight on Sunday, with the hunt still on for the group of robbers who carried out the heist.
Officials said a team of 60 investigators were working on the theory that the raid was planned and executed by an organised crime group, news agency AFP reported.
Also read: Louvre museum heist: French authorities hunt 4 thieves who fled on high-powered scooters
The incident has highlighted the lack of security in France's museums, while the new Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledged Sunday was a "major weak spot". President Emmanuel Macron said that efforts were on to catch the criminals and recover the stolen treasures.
"The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our History.
We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor's office," he said on X (formerly Twitter).
Last time Louvre was robbed was back in 1998 when a painting by Corot was stolen. It was never recovered. Last month, criminals broke into Paris's Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth $700,000. The same month, thieves stole two dishes and a vase from a museum in the central city of Limoges, the losses estimated at $7.6 million.
Sunday's robbery sparked angry political reactions.
"How far will the disintegration of the state go?" said far-right National Rally party leader Jordan Bardella on social media, calling the theft "an unbearable humiliation for our country".
7-minute heist
According to reports, the thieves arrived between 9:30 and 9:40 am (0730 and 0740 GMT) Sunday, shortly after the museum opened to the public at 9:00 am. They used a furniture hoist to access the Apollo Gallery, home to the royal collection, and cutting equipment to get in through a window and open the display cases.
The masked thieves stole nine 19th-century items of jewellery, one of which -- the crown of the Empress Eugenie -- was dropped and damaged as they made their escape, news agency AFP reported.
What was stolen?
France's Ministry of Culture said eight objects of “inestimable heritage value” were stolen from Louvre on Sunday. The artifacts included a tiara, a sapphire necklace and sapphire earrings from the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense; an emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings belonging to Marie-Louise; a brooch known as a “reliquary brooch”; and a tiara and a large corsage bow belonging to Empress Eugénie.
Alarms located on the exterior window of the Apollon Gallery and on the two display cases concerned were triggered, the ministry said. At the time of the break-in, which was “particularly quick and violent,” five museum security guards in the gallery and adjacent areas immediately intervened, it added.
The criminals fled, leaving behind their equipment and one of the stolen objects, including Empress Eugénie’s crown made of 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds. they are currently being examined, Bloomberg reported.
Despite being a heavily guarded places in France, Louvre has a history of being targeted by robberies, most famously in 1911 when Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen. Other attempts targeted works including Eugene Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, as well as Gustave Courbet’s The Wave.
