The Louvre Theft: Everything You Need to Know

The Louvre Museum in Paris is still closed this week while police investigate a brazen heist that targeted France's priceless crown jewels.

Thieves wielding power tools broke into the world's most visited museum in broad daylight, before escaping on scooters with eight extremely valuable items of jewellery.

Here is what we know about the heist that has stunned the world.

The gang reportedly arrived at 09:30 local time, shortly after the museum opened to visitors. Four suspects arrived with a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the Galerie d'Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) via a balcony close to the River Seine. Pictures from the scene showed the ladder leading up to a first-floor window. Two of the thieves got inside by cutting through the window with power tools. They then threatened the guards, who evacuated the premises, and cut through the glass of two display cases containing jewels. A preliminary report has revealed that one in three rooms in the area of the museum raided had no CCTV cameras, according to French media. French police say the thieves were inside for four minutes and made their escape on two scooters waiting outside at 09:38. This is a "very painful" episode for France, said Natalie Goulet, a member of the French Senate's finance committee. "We are all disappointed and angry," she said, and it is "difficult to understand how it happened so easily." The gang had tried to set fire to their vehicle outside but were prevented by the intervention of a museum staff member, the culture ministry added. Culture Minister Rachida Dati told French news outlet TF1 that footage of the theft showed the masked robbers entering "calmly" and smashing display cases containing the jewels. No one was injured in the incident. She described the thieves as seemingly being "experienced" with a well-prepared plan to flee on two scooters.

According to the authorities, eight items were taken, including diadems (a jewelled headband), necklaces, ear-rings, and brooches. All are from the 19th century, and once belonged to French royalty or imperial rulers.

France's Ministry of Culture said the stolen items were:

• A tiara and brooch belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III

• An emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings from Empress Marie Louise

• A tiara, necklace, and single earring from the sapphire set that belonged to Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense

• A brooch known as the "reliquary brooch."

Between them, these pieces are adorned with thousands of diamonds and other precious gemstones. Empress Eugénie's crown was found damaged on the escape route, investigators said, apparently having been dropped during the escape. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the stolen jewels as "priceless" and "of immeasurable heritage value". "There is a race going on right now," Chris Marinello, the chief executive of Art Recovery International, said. Crowns and diadems can easily be broken apart and sold in small parts. The thieves "are not going to keep them intact, they are going to break them up, melt down the valuable metal, recut the valuable stones and hide evidence of their crime," Marinello said. Earlier this year, officials at the Louvre requested help from the French government to restore and renovate the museum's ageing exhibition halls and better protect its works of art. At the time, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged the Louvre would be redesigned as part of the New Renaissance project - expected to cost between €700 million and €800 million (£608m - £695m; $816m - $933m). The project includes reinforced security.

The theft has caused a political outcry in France, with Macron calling the raid "an attack on our history", National Rally leader Jordan Bardella said it was a "intolerable humiliation", and Marine Le Pen of Front Nationale called it a "wound to the French soul".