The Louvre's wild history of being robbed in broad daylight after thieves steal eight jewels in seven-minute heist
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images
Police in France are in race against time to locate the missing jewels that were stolen from the Louvre.
On the morning of October 19, thieves made their way into the iconic museum and successfully stole eight items of jewelry that experts have described as 'priceless'.
A necklace, a brooch and a tiara are believed to be among some of the stolen jewels.
Reports said nine items were taken from the Apollo Gallery, but only eight pieces were successfully stolen as the thieves dropped a crown as they fled the scene, BBC News reports.
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One of the jewels had belong Napoleon's wife the empress Marie-Louise.
The Louvre was closed on Sunday as a result of the huge robbery and remains closed today (Monday, October 20).
French President Emmanuel Macron shared a statement following the robbery and branded the incident as 'an attack on a cultural asset that we value because it is part of our history'.
He went on: "We will recover the works and bring the perpetrators to justice. Under the leadership of the Paris public prosecutor's office, everything is being done everywhere to achieve this."
Sadly, this isn't the first robbery that's taken place at the Louvre. Back in 1911 Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa painting was taken from the museum.
Vincenzo Peruggia was the culprit and he walked into the Louvre unchallenged as he was wearing his old work uniform, having once briefly been employed by the museum.
He proceeded to casually walk out on the establishment with the world-famous art work underneath his smock.
The painting wasn't recovered until two years later when Peruggia attempted to sell it to another museum.
Then in 1966, antique jewelry was taken by thieves as it was being transported back to France from Virginia, where it had been loaned to a museum. The items went on to be found in a plastic grocery bag in New York.
Fast forward to 1990 and another daylight robbery occurred when a small Renoir painting was cut from its frame at the Louvre. Twelve pieces of ancient Roman jewelry and a few other paintings were also taken during the same heist, says National Geographic.
In the wake of the most recent robbery, France's Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin admitted Monday to security flaws in protecting the famous museum.
"What is certain is that we have failed, since people were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of Paris, get people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewels and give France a terrible image," he told France Inter radio.