A gang of brazen thieves dropped the priceless Eugénie Crown outside the Louvre in Paris during a jaw-dropping daylight heist of the world's most visited museum.

The group of criminals swiped priceless items, including a necklace and a brooch once belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine, in broad daylight, forcing the tourist attraction to shut its doors.

The raid, which took place at around 9.30am on Sunday, saw the thieves brazenly break into the art museum, which is also home to the Mona Lisa, by propping a huge freight elevator up against its walls, according to an investigating source.

The group of several 'highly organised criminals' arrived on scooters, masking their faces to hide their identity, before pulling out chainsaws and making off with precious pieces worth millions, it added.

Among the treasures was the Eugénie Crown, adorned with thousands of diamonds and emeralds and worn by the Empress of the French in the 19th Century, which was found tossed below a window of the Louvre and broken in pieces.

The historic piece was sold at auction in 1988 for $13.5million (£10m) before being donated to the Louvre in 1992. It is now worth tens of millions of dollars, expert Josie Goodbody told the Daily Mail.

It took the gang just seven minutes to complete their heist, from the moment they arrived to their speedy getaway, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.

They drove the elevator on the back of a flat-bed truck right up to a window close to the museum's Apollo Gallery (Galerie d'Apollon), which was opened by King Louis XIV in the 17th Century, he added.

'The window was cut through, using a hand-held disc cutter,' Mr Nunez said.

Officers rushed to the scene and were pictured inspecting the elevator, resembling a giant ladder, which had been left up against the historical stone walls of the Louvre after the gang rushed off with the loot.

Further photos showed what appeared to be a disc-cutter on the front seat of a lorry, outside the museum, surrounded by police tape.

Meanwhile, thousands of panicking tourists were trapped inside the iconic building while a hurried evacuation took place, before being escorted towards the city's streets on a busy day in the French capital.

Police sources told Le Parisien: 'After breaking windows, two men entered, stealing nine pieces from Napoleon and the Empress's jewelry collection – a necklace, a brooch, and more.'

The room thought to be the target also included a diamond bodice bow belonging to Empress Eugenie, although it is not yet known if this was taken.

It also boasted the Regent diamond, viewed by many as the most beautiful in the world, which was strangely not stolen, according to Le Parisien.

After being crowned Emperor and Empress of France in 1804, Napoleon and Josephine amassed one of the most impressive jewellery collections ever known.

Many of the pieces were stolen from royalty during the French Revolution, while others were taken from around the country's sweeping Empire, which expanded rapidly under the emperor's rule.

Police sources added that 'the criminals gained access to the building on the Seine River side', where construction work is in progress.

'They used a freight elevator that leads directly to the targeted room,' they said.

Mr Nunez confirmed an investigation had been launched into 'theft and criminal conspiracy to commit a crime,' by an organised gang.

The Banditism Repression Brigade of the Judicial Police (BRB) is leading the enquiry, along with the Central Office for Combating Trafficking in Cultural Property.

Mr Nunez said: 'It was necessary to close the Louvre to visitors, primarily to preserve traces and clues so that investigators could work calmly. The evacuation of the public took place without incident.'

He added: 'We can't prevent everything. There is great vulnerability in French museums.

'Everything is being done to ensure we find the perpetrators as quickly as possible, and I'm hopeful.'

Those stealing historical art pieces or jewellery often work for dealers who will be unable to sell the priceless items on the black market.

Instead, the pieces will be kept hidden, and enjoyed by the master criminal who commissioned the raid, said the source.

Rachida Dati, France's Culture Minister, said: 'I am on site alongside the museum staff and the police.'

She said a criminal enquiry had been launched, and that detectives were liaising with museum staff.

According to Ms Dati, nobody was hurt during the raids, while a Louvre spokesman confirmed the museum was shut 'for exceptional reasons'.

There are regular high end art thefts in Paris, including at the Louvre.

The most infamous came in 1911 when Leonardo Da Vinci's 16th Century masterpiece Mona Lisa was taken, causing an international outcry.

Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of the world's most visited art museum, hid in a cupboard overnight to take the painting.

It was recovered two years later when he tried to sell it to an antiques dealer in Florence, Italy.

The latest raid comes despite authorities regularly pledging to improve security at the numerous galleries across the city.

Axe-wielding thieves targeted an exhibition of miniature objects at the Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris on November 20, 2024.

Among their haul were seven highly prized snuffboxes, including two loaned by the British Crown.

The daytime raid led to an insurance payout of more than £3 million to the Royal Collection Trust.

In 2017, three art thieves were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for stealing five masterpieces worth almost £100m from the Paris Museum of Modern Art.

A burglary in May 2010 saw works by Picasso and Matisse disappearing.