"Robbers wielding power tools scaled a furniture hoist outside the Louvre in Paris to make off with priceless jewellery from the world-renowned museum on Sunday, taking just seven minutes for the brazen, broad-daylight heist, sources and officials said. The theft -- just the latest to have targeted a French institution in recent months -- saw the museum, the world's most visited and filled with treasures including the Mona Lisa, shut its doors for the day to the busy weekend crowds."
"Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said three of four thieves had used the furniture hoist to steal "priceless" goods from the museum's "Gallerie d'Apollon" ("Apollo's Gallery"). It was not immediately clear what exactly they had stolen from the gilded gallery, which the museum's website says is home to the French crown jewels. They include 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, it said."
Thieves armed with power tools used a furniture hoist to access the Louvre's Galerie d'Apollon and stole priceless jewellery in a seven-minute daytime operation. The museum closed for the day and police secured the esplanade, deployed forensics teams, and soldiers patrolled with automatic rifles while roads were cordoned off. Officials said three or four suspects arrived by scooter between 9:30 and 9:40 am, used angle grinders, and scaled the hoist to reach the targeted room. The gallery houses French crown jewels including historic diamonds and an emerald-and-diamond necklace once owned by Empress Marie-Louise.
Read at The Local France
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