The Louvre Museum in Paris was closed for “exceptional reasons” after a daring heist by a group of intruders who stole eight pieces of priceless jewellery in a quick-hit robbery reminiscent of a Hollywood movie scene.
The spectacular heist rocked the world’s most-visited museum on Sunday at around 9:30am as thieves zeroed in on Apollo’s Gallery – a gold-gilded, lavishly painted hall commissioned by King Louis XIV that houses the French crown jewels.
French jewels
They took just seven minutes to grab France’s priceless crown jewels, but dropped a gem-encrusted crown worn in the 19th century by Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III, which was found broken near the museum after the thieves fled.
It features golden eagles and is covered in 1 354 diamonds and 56 emeralds.
ALSO READ: Mthethwa family welcome Saps support to French authorities as they probe death
The heist, one of several to target French museums in recent months, forced the closure of the Louvre, which is home to the Mona Lisa.
Movie scenes
It was “like a Hollywood movie”, one American tourist, Talia Ocampo, told AFP. It was “crazy” and “something we won’t forget — we could not go to the Louvre because there was a robbery”, she said.
The Louvre evacuated all visitors and posted a notice online that the museum would remain closed throughout the day under “exceptional” circumstances.
French President Emmanuel Macron posted on social media that “everything is being done” to catch the perpetrators and recover the stolen treasures.
The French culture ministry said eight items of jewellery were stolen, including an emerald and diamond necklace that Napoleon gave to his wife, Marie Louise.
Other jewels stolen included a sapphire necklace and sapphire earrings worn by Napoleon’s stepdaughter Hortense, who became the queen of Holland, and which were also worn by the 19th-century queen Marie Amélie.
Thieves
Police are looking for a team of four thieves, Paris’ chief prosecutor Laure Beccuau told the BFMTV channel.
The thieves had threatened museum guards with the angle grinders they used to break into the jewellery cases, she said, adding that a team of 60 investigators was on the case.
The robbers used a powered, extendable ladder of the sort used to hoist furniture into buildings to get into the gilded gallery, said officials.
The robbery struck just 800 metres (half a mile) from Paris police headquarters.
The Louvre used to be the seat of French kings until Louis XIV abandoned it for Versailles in the late 1600s.
ALSO READ: Nathi Mthethwa did not have protection detail at time of death, Dirco sa
About the Author
