Thieves steal Napoleonic jewels from Louvre

Brazen heist unfolded in minutes while visitors were in the museum, officials say.

- BY THOMAS ADAMSON

THIBAULT CAMUS Associated Press

POLICE officers work near a basket lift used by thieves Sunday to enter the Louvre Museum in Paris.

In a minutes-long strike Sunday inside the world’s most-visited museum, thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre’s facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officials said.

The daylight heist about 30 minutes after opening, with visitors already inside, was among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory and comes as staff complained that crowding and thin staffing are straining security.

The theft unfolded just 270 yards from the “Mona Lisa,” in what Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as “a four-minute operation.” No one was hurt.

One object, the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III's wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum, French authorities said. It was reportedly recovered broken.

Images from the scene showed confused tourists being steered out of the glass pyramid and adjoining courtyards as officers closed nearby streets along the Seine.

A lift — which officials say the thieves brought and which was later removed — stood against the Seine-facing facade, providing their entry route and, observers said, revealing a weakness: that such machinery could be brought to a palace-museum unchecked.

A strained museum

Around 9:30 a.m., several intruders forced a window, cut panes with a disc cutter and went straight for the vitrines, officials said. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the crew entered from outside using a basket lift.