The world-renowned Louvre museum in Paris was shut on Sunday after several pieces of invaluable jewelry were stolen in a brazen robbery.
Speaking to France Inter radio station on Sunday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that several individuals entered the Louvre that morning during what he called a “major robbery” that lasted minutes. According to the former Paris police chief, it was “clearly a team that had done their homework” as the windows were cut with a power tool.
“Jewelry that has historical and priceless value” had been taken, Nunez said. “But I can’t tell you any more at this time.”
“We are working hard at the moment to find the perpetrators,” he added, while confirming that no one was injured.
Following the heist, the Paris public prosecutor’s office announced an investigation into “organized theft and criminal conspiracy to commit a crime.”
According to the Minister of the Interior, three or four thieves arrived near the museum on powerful TMax scooters on Sunday morning around 9:30 a.m. The perpetrators fled the scene and are being sought, Nunez said.
Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled an ambitious 10-year “Renaissance” project to renovate the Louvre, which included plans to secure the museum’s premises.
“The vulnerability of museums is a long-standing issue,” Dati said. “These museums must be adapted to new forms of crime.”
