French authorities are investigating a brazen daylight robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris after four thieves stole at least eight pieces from France’s royal and imperial crown-jewel collection Oct. 19, including a piece tied to the Catholic faith of a 19th-century empress.
The theft occurred between 9:30 and 9:40 a.m. local time, just after the museum opened to visitors, according to the BBC. Two of the thieves wearing yellow and orange vests reportedly used a vehicle-mounted lift to reach a first-floor balcony of the museum’s Galerie d’Apollon, where they cut through glass panels with power tools.
According to the BBC, once inside, the group threatened guards, who evacuated the premises, and smashed two display cases holding the 19th-century jewels once owned by French royalty. The men then escaped on motorcycles, ABC News reported.
In a statement shared by the Louvre’s X account, the French Ministry of Culture said the stolen items included a tiara and bow brooch belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III; emerald jewelry from Empress Marie-Louise; a tiara, necklace, and a single earring from a sapphire set once owned by Queen Hortense and Queen Marie-Amélie. Eugénie’s diamond-encrusted “reliquary brooch,” designed to hold a sacred relic and serving as a reflection of her Catholic faith, was also among the items stolen. Two more items were later found near the scene, apparently dropped as the thieves fled.
The stolen pieces are estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of euros and possess inestimable historical and cultural significance. The emerald necklace and earrings — a gift from Napoleon to Empress Marie-Louise — alone were sold to the Louvre in 2004 for a reported €3.7 million (about $4.3 million), CNN reported. According to the Fondation Napoleon, the museum purchased Empress Eugénie’s bow brooch for 6.72 million euros (more than $10 million at the time) in 2008.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the theft as “an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our History.”
He said that France will “recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor’s office.”
Natalie Goulet, a member of the French Senate’s finance committee, said that French officials are “all disappointed and angry,” calling it “difficult to understand how it happened so easily,” the BBC reported.
She told the outlet that the gallery’s localized alarm system had reportedly been broken, adding that “we have to wait for the investigation in order to know if the alarm was disactivated.”
The Culture Ministry said the museum’s system triggered, and staff followed protocol by securing visitors and alerting police. Roughly 60 investigators are working on the case, and authorities believe the robbers acted under orders from an organized crime network.
The Louvre remained closed Oct. 20 as police searched for the suspects.
“Following yesterday’s robbery at the Louvre, the museum regrets to inform you that it will remain closed to the public today,” the museum said on its website. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and has not yet announced when it will reopen.
The post Thieves steal French crown jewels in brazen daylight Louvre heist appeared first on CatholicVote org.