A crown worn by French Empress Eugenie.
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(Paris, France) – The hunt is on for the thieves who stole priceless crown jewels from the Louvre Museum Sunday morning.
Thieves broke into the museum shortly before it opened to the public. They’re thought to have gained entry through an upstairs window using some type of mechanical lift attached to a truck. They used it to access a balcony, where they forced open a window using an angle grinder and entered the museum’s Apollo Gallery, home to the historic collection of crown jewels. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez says two or three thieves were able to open two display cases in a gallery that held France’s crown jewels, and then left the scene on motorbikes.
The brazen heist was carried out in less than eight minutes, officials said.
“It was obviously a very experienced team that acted very, very quickly,” French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said in a radio interview on Sunday, adding: “I am confident that we will very quickly find the perpetrators and, above all, recover the stolen goods.”
They stole:
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A tiara, necklace and single earring from the sapphire set belonging to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense
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An emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings from Empress Marie Louise
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A “reliquary brooch”
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A tiara and brooch belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III
