Crunched jewels

Bent and missing 10 diamonds...the crown dropped in £76m Louvre raid

- BY PETER ALLEN in Paris

LOUVRE bosses have released photos showing the damage done to a Napoleonic crown as thieves dropped it amid a £76million raid.

Once owned by Empress Eugénie de Montijo, it was abandoned by the four men as they fled the Paris museum last October.

A Louvre spokesman said yesterday that the piece was "crushed and significantly deformed" but "retains its near-complete integrity, allowing for full restoration".

It was damaged by the gang's angle grinder as they cut open its reinforced glass display case in the Louvre's Apollo gallery.