A gang of daring thieves shocked France as they raided the iconic Louvre in Paris, snatching the priceless Eugénie Crown before dropping it outside as they fled.
Thieves used a crane and smashed an upstairs window in a jaw-dropping heist of the world’s most visited museum, before swiping priceless jewellery and escaping on motorbikes at around 9.30am on Sunday.
The seven-minute raid, which remarkably took place in broad daylight as thousands of tourists visited the museum, saw the theft of a necklace and a brooch once belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine.
The Eugénie Crown, which is covered in 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, was also taken in the rare heist.
Despite high security at the 232-year-old Parisian museum, it is not the first time it has been audaciously targeted.
The stolen crown which was found broken on Sunday was worn by the Empress of France in the 19th Century and sold for $13.5million (£10m) before being donated to the museum in 1992.
It is the most high profile theft since the Mona Lisa was taken in 1911.
Vincenzo Peruggia caused international uproar after he stole Leonardo’s da Vinci’s iconic work.
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Several ‘highly organised criminals’ arrived outside the Louvre at around 9.30am local time on Sunday and propped a freight elevator against its walls before completing a seven-minute raid
Among the treasures was the Eugénie Crown, found tossed below a window of the Louvre and broken into pieces (Stock Photo)
The Italian, who worked as a glazier at the museum, hid in a broom closet overnight before he simply walked up to the painting, took it off the wall, extracted it from its case, and took it home.
Despite its simplicity, 114 years later it is still one of the most-well known art heists in history.
Peruggia kept the painting hidden in a trunk for two years before getting caught trying to sell it to a gallery in Florence.
The Mona Lisa was returned to the Louvre, but in the meantime police had accused a number of people of theft, including Pablo Picasso.
Poet Guillaume Apollinaire was also questioned before Peruggia, who wanted the painting returned to his native Italy, was caught when he tried to sell the work in Florence.
The painting was recovered and returned to the Louvre.
In 1983, two long-lost pieces of Italian Renaissance armour disappeared.
The ornate helmet and breastplate were only returned to the museum in 2021 and mystery continues to surrounds the theft.
Described as ‘objects of pomp and circumstance’, the armour was made between 1560 and 1580 in Milan and donated in 1922 to the museum by the Rothschild family.
Sunday’s raid was the most high profile theft since the Mona Lisa was taken in 1911
Vincenzo Peruggia caused international uproar after he stole Leonardo’s da Vinci’s iconic work
The museum noted the theft had ‘deeply troubled all the staff at the time.
Seven years earlier, three masked burglars climbed scaffolding outside the museum, before smashing a window and running off with a diamond-studded sword used for the 1824 coronation of King Charles X.
The sword remains missing.
And before Sunday’s brazen heist, the last theft at the Louvre took place in 1998 when Le Chemin de Sevres (The Sevres Road), by 19th Century artist Camille Corot, was plucked off the wall without anyone noticing. It remains missing to this day.
Thefts from the Louvre remain uncommon due to the museum’s tight security.
However, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez admitted today that it was ‘well-known’ French museums are ‘vulnerable’.
Last month thieves took €600,000 (£530,000) of gold from the Museum of Natural History in Paris.
Items worth €6.5m (£5.6m) were also stolen from the Museum of Porcelain in Limoges in September.
While Axe-wielding thieves targeted an exhibition of miniature objects at the Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris on November 20, 2024.
In 1983, two long-lost pieces of Italian Renaissance armour disappeared. They were returned in 2021
Le Chemin de Sevres (The Sevres Road), by 19th Century artist Camille Corot, was plucked off the wall in 1998
Among their haul were seven highly prized snuffboxes, including two loaned by the British Crown.
The daytime raid led to an insurance payout of more than £3 million to the Royal Collection Trust.
In 2017, three art thieves were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for stealing five masterpieces worth almost £100m from the Paris Museum of Modern Art.
A burglary in May 2010 saw works by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse disappear from the same gallery.
