Just days after a brazen heist which targeted France’s priceless crown jewels, the world’s most-visited museum has opened its doors to visitors once again.
The Louvre Museum in Paris was the target of ‘the theft of the decade’ on Sunday when £76million worth of jewellery was stolen in broad daylight.
Posing as construction workers, two members of a ‘highly organised’ gang parked a flat-bed truck, complete with an extendable ladder, outside the museum.
Once their getaway drivers pulled up on scooters, the men began their seven-minute raid – propping their ladder up against the museum’s wall, scurrying to the top and using an angle grinder to pierce through the window.
Inside, they threatened unarmed guards and visitors before breaking into two display cabinets and looting nine prized items.
With the world’s growing obsession with ‘true crime’, the recent heist is likely to cause a visitor spike as tourists are drawn to see the location of the crime.
While the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery, the site of the crime, remains closed, guests have been spotted once again queuing to enter the museum.
There are already countless YouTube videos, articles and discussion pages where people have shared their theories of how the heist was allowed to happen.
The Louvre Museum in Paris was the target of ‘ the theft of the decade’ on Sunday when £76million worth of jewellery was stolen in broad daylight
While the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery, the site of the crime, remains closed, guests have been spotted once again queuing to enter the museum
And tourists have expressed a mixture of shock and excitement, with some describing the event as ‘insane’ and ‘cinematic’.
One person, who spoke to the BBC outside the Louvre yesterday, said: ‘We are very excited to go In and see where the jewellery was stolen and everything, because how could people steal things from the Louvre?
‘It is very exciting.’
Another agreed: ‘I think the heist, kind of, made it more exciting to go to the Louvre for some reason.
‘I think later we’re going to try to find where the people broke in, and take a picture near it.’
And a third added: ‘This is our first time in Paris, and we actually have all day to enjoy Paris, so we might actually go inside now, and now see where the crown jewels used to be.
‘I mean, something like that seems almost impossible. I mean, there’s so many people around, and guards, and I wouldn’t imagine anybody would try to steal jewels from the Louvre, much less during the daytime.’
The stolen items include a diamond and emerald necklace which Emperor Napoleon gave to his wife, a tiara worn by Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III and several pieces previously owned by Queen Marie-Amelie.
Tourists have expressed a mixture of shock and excitement, with some describing the event as ‘insane’ and ‘cinematic’
High-end art thefts are not unusual in Paris, including at the Louvre, which opened in 1793 after serving as a palace since the late 12th century.
And the raid comes despite authorities regularly pledging to improve security at the numerous galleries across the French capital.
A similar heist happened in Germany in 2019 when £98million worth of royal jewellery was stolen from the Green Vault museum within Dresden Castle in Dresden, Saxony.
Many of the treasures were recovered years later when five men were convicted of the crime, but some remain missing to this day. All five told investigators they didn’t know where the missing jewels were.
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