Reposted from CNN

Thieves stole “priceless” jewelry from the Louvre in Paris in an audacious seven-minute raid that took place just after the world’s most-visited museum opened on Sunday.

In what appeared to be a professional heist, the robbers used a truck-mounted ladder to gain access to the Apollo Gallery, one of the most ornate rooms in the Louvre, and made off with artefacts from the French Crown Jewels, dating from the Napoleonic era. Two high-security display cases were targeted, and eight of the nine items taken remain unaccounted for, including a tiara and necklace worn by Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, the French culture ministry said in a statement. 

The thieves forced open a window using an angle grinder and stole jewelry that has “sentimental value and is priceless,” French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. Four perpetrators appear to have been involved in the theft, who were unarmed, but threatened the guards with the angle grinders, Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said.

Beccuau said that investigators have not ruled out foreign interference as a possible line of inquiry into the theft; but were keeping all leads open. The thieves dropped or left behind one item – the crown of Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III.  The ornate gold piece, which features 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, was damaged in the heist, prosecutors said. “Beyond their market value, the items have inestimable heritage and historical value,” the interior ministry said in a statement.  French President Emmanuel Macron said that “everything is being done” to catch the suspects. “The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage we cherish because it is part of our history,” Macron said on X, “ We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”

A detailed list of the stolen items released by the culture ministry revealed a single earring from the sapphire parure of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, an emerald necklace and pair of emerald earrings from the parure of Empress Marie-Louise, the “reliquary brooch,” and the tiara and large corsage bow brooch of Empress Eugénie were stolen in the heist. An attempt to set fire to the truck used to carry out the raid was foiled by a Louvre security officer, according to the culture ministry’s statement.

The robbery took only seven minutes, with the suspects fleeing on motorcycles, Nuñez told France Inter radio. “Clearly, a team had been scouting the location. It was obviously a very experienced team that acted very, very quickly,” he aid.

“I am confident that we will very quickly find the perpetrators and, above all, recover the stolen goods,” he added.

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