Thieves strike Louvre in brazen jewel heist as the world's most visited museum shutters

"PARIS, France -- In a brazen, seven-minute strike, thieves used a basket lift to reach the Louvre on Sunday morning and, as tourists were already inside, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with jewels of "inestimable value," France's interior minister said. The world's most visited museum closed for the day as police sealed gates and ushered visitors out during the investigation."

"Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called it a "major robbery," saying the intruders entered from the outside using a basket lift. He said on France Inter radio that the heist took seven minutes and the thieves used a disc cutter to slice through the panes. He said it was "manifestly a team that had done scouting." The heist occurred in the Galerie d'Apollon, a vaulted hall in the Denon wing that displays part of the French Crown Jewels"

Thieves used a basket lift to reach the Louvre, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with jewels described as of inestimable historical value. The world's most visited museum closed for the day while police sealed gates, shut nearby streets and ushered visitors out as forensic teams began work and compiled an inventory of stolen objects. Interior and culture ministers visited the site. The intruders entered from the Seine-facing facade near construction, used a disc cutter on panes, escaped on two-wheelers and reportedly removed nine pieces from Napoleon-era jewelry in the Galerie d'Apollon.

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