The Louvre remained closed for a second consecutive day on Monday as authorities pursued the culprits behind a bold daylight heist that saw invaluable jewels stolen.
Officials reported that 60 investigators are exploring the possibility of an organized crime group orchestrating Sunday’s theft of nine jewelry pieces, including a crown encrusted with over 1,000 diamonds, which was dropped as the thieves fled.
The heist took place around 9:30 am (0730 GMT), just 30 minutes after the museum’s opening, and was completed in a mere seven minutes, according to sources and officials.
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The robbers parked a truck equipped with an extendable ladder similar to those used by movers beneath the Apollo Gallery of the Paris museum, which houses an imperial jewelry collection, ascending it and using cutting tools to break in through a window and access the display cases.
The renowned museum, which features extensive collections including the Mona Lisa, announced it would close for another day and may not reopen until Wednesday, as it traditionally remains shut on Tuesdays.
‘It’s long gone’
American tourist Jesslyn Ehlers, 38, and her husband were busy rescheduling their tickets at the museum.
“We’re a bit disappointed. We’ve been planning this visit for a long time,” she remarked.
Shortly before the closure announcement, lines of eager visitors wound through the museum’s pyramid courtyard and beneath the tall arches of the main entrance gallery.
Carol Fuchs, an elderly tourist from the U.S., had been waiting in line for over 45 minutes.
“The audacity, entering through a window,” she expressed to AFP after the jewel heist.
“Will they be recovered? I doubt it. I fear they are long gone,” she added.
Stolen items
The masked thieves dropped and damaged Empress Eugenie’s crown, wife of Napoleon III, during their escape. The crown features 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, as detailed on the museum’s website.
However, eight other invaluable jewelry items remain missing, the culture ministry stated.
The released list included an emerald-and-diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon I to his wife, Empress Marie-Louise.
Also taken was a diadem belonging to Empress Eugenie, adorned with nearly 2,000 diamonds, and a necklace once owned by Marie-Amelie, the last queen of France, embellished with eight sapphires and 631 diamonds, as noted on the Louvre’s website.
The stolen goods would be impossible to sell in their current form, said Alexandre Giquello, president of the top auction house Drouot.
The burglary has sparked renewed debate over inadequate security in France’s museums, prompting Interior Minister Laurent Nunez to call for enhanced protection measures around cultural sites during a police meeting on Monday, according to advisers.
Earlier on Monday, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin acknowledged security shortcomings at the Louvre.
“Undoubtedly, we have failed, as suspects were able to position a furniture hoist in central Paris, climb it within minutes to seize invaluable jewels, damaging France’s image,” he told France Inter radio.
Recent robberies in France
Following several other museum robberies in France in recent months, Nunez on Sunday recognized securing these institutions as a “major vulnerability”.
The raid is suspected to have been executed by an experienced team, possibly “foreign nationals,” Nunez suggested.
The intervention of museum staff prompted the thieves to abandon some equipment used during the raid, the culture ministry reported.
This marks the first theft from the Louvre since 1998 when a Camille Corot painting was stolen and never recovered.
France’s museums have faced criticism for inadequate security, being significantly less secure than banks and increasingly targeted by criminals.
Last month, thieves broke into Paris’s Natural History Museum, stealing gold samples valued at $700,000.
In the same month, two dishes and a vase were stolen from a museum in Limoges, with losses estimated at $7.6 million.
