Paris [France], October 20: The heist lasted four minutes and the thieves made off with priceless Napoleonic jewels, but dropped an emerald tiara and more than 1,300 diamonds as they fled.
AP news agency on October 20 quoted French officials as saying that a gang of thieves broke into the Louvre Museum in Paris and took action in just a few minutes before escaping with priceless Napoleonic-era jewelry.
At the world's most visited museum, thieves used a forklift to climb onto the facade of the Louvre, pry open windows, and smash display cases on October 19.
It took them just minutes to make off with some of France's priceless crown jewels, but they dropped a jewel-encrusted crown during their escape, AFP reported, citing French officials and sources.
The theft took place in broad daylight, about 30 minutes after the museum opened, when there were already visitors inside.
It was one of the most brazen recent museum heists, coming amid complaints from staff that overcrowding and understaffing were putting pressure on security.
The incident took place just 250 metres from the Mona Lisa and the thieves carried out the theft in four minutes, which French Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as professional.
French officials said an artifact, the Empress Eugenie tiara from the time of Emperor Napoleon III, encrusted with emeralds and more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found damaged outside the museum.
Images from the scene showed tourists being guided out of the glass pyramid and adjacent courtyards, while police sealed off streets near the Seine River.
A lift, which officials say was brought in by the thieves and later removed, remains standing next to the facade facing the Seine where they entered. Observers say this detail represents a worrying weakness because such equipment can be brought into the museum without being checked.
French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media that "every measure is being taken" to arrest the perpetrators and recover the stolen treasures.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
