A lightning burglary of astonishing efficiency, carried out with disconcerting ease, in seven minutes and in broad daylight, in the largest museum in the world… The Louvre (1East arrondissement of Paris) had been open to the public for thirty minutes, Sunday October 19, around 9:30 a.m., when a commando of four criminals, perhaps inspired by the criminal audacity of Fantômas, in any case eminently well prepared, weighted with striking confidence, reached the Apollo gallery. Located on the first floor, it houses the crown jewels of France.
An ascent carried out in the middle of the street, thanks to an ordinary electric mover’s ladder positioned on the Seine side, Quai François-Mitterrand. The burglars have time to break a French window, then smash two high-security windows to steal “ eight objects of inestimable heritage value »according to a press release from the Ministry of Culture published on Sunday. Before going back down the same path and escaping on a scooter.
In The loot includes the necklace of the sapphire parure of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, composed of eight sapphires and 631 diamonds, and the tiara of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, which has nearly 2,000 diamonds. The only thing missed, for the moment, is the burglars still wanted: after the break-in, put to flight, according to the museum, through the intervention of Louvre agents, they dropped the crown of Empress Eugénie, composed of 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds. The ornament was recovered, damaged.
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