“PRICELESS” JEWELLERY HAS been stolen by thieves with power tools at the Louvre in Paris, causing the museum to close.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told French news outlets that “three or four” thieves had focused on two displays in the Gallerie d’Apollon, completing their broad daylight robbery in just seven minutes.
The Gallerie d’Apollon, or Apollo’s Gallery, houses the French Crown Jewels.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who originally announced the robbery, said one of the jewellery pieces stolen from the Louvre in Paris was later found near the museum.
A police source said the thieves arrived on a scooter armed with small chainsaws and used a goods lift to reach the room they were targeting.
The robbery happened between 8.30am and 8.40am, just 800 metres from Paris police headquarters.
The museum website states that the Gallerie d’Apollon hosts three historical diamonds – the Regent, the Sancy and the Hortensia – as well as an emerald and diamond necklace that Napoleon gave his wife Empress Marie-Louise.
The museum also houses famous artworks such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and the Ancient Greek sculpture Venus de Milo.
It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Paris and holds the title of the world’s most-visited museum.
According to the museum, it welcomes around nine million visitors annually.
