‘Priceless’ jewels stolen in raid on Louvre Museum in Paris

A manhunt is underway for a gang of thieves who raided the Louvre museum in Paris in broad daylight and stole jewelry described as priceless.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said it took only minutes for the masked suspects to carry out the burglary on Sunday morning, shortly after the museum opened to visitors.

The gang appear to have used a mechanical ladder to reach a first floor window, before breaking into shop windows and fleeing on mopeds.

The targeted gallery houses the royal jewels of France. Authorities said nine items were seized. One of them, a crown belonging to the wife of Napoleon III, was found nearby.

The Louvre was evacuated and remained closed on Sunday.

The jewelry was stolen from the Galeria d’Apollon around 9:30 a.m. local time (08:30 GMT), the French Interior Ministry said.

The thieves used battery-powered record cutters to gain access to the building, the Paris prosecutor’s office told the BBC.

Four people were involved in the theft, two of whom entered the building and threatened guards once inside, they added.

An extendable ladder mounted on a vehicle was seen leading to a window a stone’s throw from the Seine, apparently abandoned by the gang.

The French Culture Ministry said the gang tried to set the vehicle on fire before leaving, but were prevented from doing so by a museum staff member.

No one was injured during the incident.

The nine objects stolen from the gallery all date from 19th-century French royalty and are encrusted with thousands of diamonds and other precious stones.

Among them, a brooch that belonged to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, as well as a pair of emerald earrings.

Empress Eugénie’s crown was found near the scene, apparently abandoned by the thieves in their haste to escape.

The ornate crown depicts golden eagles and is covered with 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, according to the Louvre website. Investigators are checking to see if there is any damage.

It is believed that criminals prefer to steal jewelry because it can be broken and sold for money, while it is more difficult to make money from stolen, easily recognizable valuable works of art.

Beyond their commercial value, Nuñez said the stolen pieces have a cultural and historical value that cannot be calculated, describing them as “priceless” and “of immeasurable heritage value.”

Police were seen throughout Sunday turning away tourists from the museum, the world’s most visited, as people continued to arrive, ignoring the closure and investigation.

American tourists Jim and Joan Carpenter said they were about to see Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa when security guards “swept us out of the gallery”.

The couple were taken to the front of Galeria d’Apollo and taken out through a fire exit, Ms Carpenter told the Reuters news agency.

Mr Carpenter said there was “a lot of confusion” in the museum and guards told the couple there were “technical difficulties” when they asked what was going on.

“I knew something was going on because of the way they swept the whole museum,” Ms. Carpenter said.

Mr Carpenter added: “But it’s great. It’s our last day of a long journey and this is the most exciting part of today.”