Thieves snatch priceless crown jewels in daring heist from Louvre Museum in Paris
Priceless Napoleonic crown jewels were stolen in a daring daylight heist from Paris's Louvre Museum. Masked thieves used power tools to break into the Apollon gallery, taking eight historic pieces.
New Delhi: The world-renowned Louvre Museum, a global icon of art and culture, was thrown into disarray Sunday following a brazen daylight heist that saw priceless Napoleonic jewels stolen from its Apollon gallery.
The daring heist, which occurred less than an hour after the museum opened its doors, has prompted a widespread police hunt and raised serious questions about the security measures in place at one of the world's most visited museums.
The sophisticated operation involved four masked thieves who arrived at the south side of the Louvre along the Seine river around 9:30 am. Using a truck equipped with a basket lift and an extendable ladder, they ascended to a second-floor balcony window.
Authorities reported that the thieves used an angle grinder and other power tools to break into the gallery, smashing glass display cases and making off with eight historic pieces of jewellery. The entire heist, including their escape on motorbikes, took less than 10 minutes, according to French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, who described it as the work of an "experienced team who had clearly scouted the location."
While the thieves managed to abscond with several valuable items, including a sapphire necklace gifted by Napoleon to his wife and pieces from the Marie-Amélie and Marie-Louise jewellery sets, they failed to secure some of the most prized possessions.
Notably, the exceptionally valuable crown of Napoleon III's wife, Empress Eugenie, was dropped by the thieves on their way out. They also missed the Regent diamond, estimated by Sotheby's to be worth over 60 million dollars. The stolen items were housed in the historic Apollon gallery, originally built in 1661 and renowned for its gilded ornamentation and paintings, serving as inspiration for the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.
The heist immediately ignited a political firestorm, with far-right leader Jordan Bardella criticising President Emmanuel Macron's government. Bardella tweeted, "The Louvre is a global symbol of our culture. This robbery... is an unbearable humiliation for our country. How far will the decay of the state go?"
President Macron, in response, pledged that France would "recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice," calling the theft "an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history."
This is not the first time the Louvre has been targeted. The museum's history includes notable thefts, most famously the 1911 disappearance of the Mona Lisa by an Italian decorator, Vincenzo Peruggia, who was later apprehended and the painting recovered.