Manhunt for the thieves of France’s Louvre Museum Heist still ongoing. More than 60 investigators have been drafted in to work on the case, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in a television interview Monday night.
The unprecedented Heist took place on Sunday within just four minutes, the thieves were able to intrude through the windows right after the museum opened, later entering the gallery and escaping via motorbike with “jewels of inestimable value”.
What valuables were stolen?
- Tiara of Empress Eugenie the wife of Napoleon III
- Tiara from the jewellery set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense
- Brooch known as the “reliquary” brooch
- Another large brooch of Empress Eugenie
- Necklace from the same duo’s sapphire jewellery set
- A single earring from the sapphire jewellery set
- Emerald necklace from the Marie-Louise set the wife of French Emperor Napoleon I
- Pair of emerald earrings from the Marie-Louise set
The stolen pieces were antique artifacts dating back to Napoleonic era. One of the stolen entitiy the crown of Empress Eugenie containing more than 1300 diamonds, dropped by the thieves on their way out was later recovered by security officials.
The crown of Empress Eugenie was recovered outside the walls of the museum, the ministry said, where it was dropped by the thieves as they fled. The crown contains 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, according to the Louvre.
French President Emmanuel Macron took to social media to denounce the heist as an “attack on a heritage that we cherish”.
“The perpetrators will be brought to justice,” he added. “Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor’s office.”
Experts believe that thieves of France’s Louvre Museum Heist can be apprehended but it would not be possible to recover the stolen items because those items can be melted or disintegrated and could easily be sold in the market without any trace.
