Jewels stolen from Louvre museum in Paris valued at $102m: Prosecutor

More than $100 million (some 88 million euros) have been stolen from the Louvre museum in Paris as a blatant daylight robbery over the weekend, according to a French prosecutor.

In an interview on Tuesday, Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau said, “It is important to remember that this damage is an economic damage, but it is nothing compared to the historical damage caused by this theft.”

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According to Beccuau, “the Louvre curator estimated the damages to be 88 million euros.” That works out to $102m.

A tiara and earrings from the early 19th-century television series Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense were among the eight stolen jewelry. Empress Eugenie’s crown was discovered outside the museum, which the thieves allegedly dumped while they were escaping.

Four masked thieves used a crane to break into an upstairs window at the Louvre, one of France’s remaining crown jewels, and steal jewelry during a quick robbery that involved a motorcycle getaway. The heist involved a getaway on motorcycles and took place on a break in the afternoon.

The Louvre’s “Prejudice a été estimated by the conservationatrice of the Louvre to the sum of 88 million euros”

Laure Beccuau, procureure of Paris, is the author of the #RTLSoir photo, Anne-Sophie Lapix. twitter.com/3KB1oJ9vn7

The Louvre curator estimated the damage to be worth 88 million euros. Laure Beccuau, the prosecutor in Paris, speaking with Anne-Sophie Lapix.

As anger grows over the lack of security in the nation’s museums, director of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, is scheduled to appear before the French Senate’s culture committee on Wednesday.

Des Cars in January had warned Rachida Dati, France’s Culture Minister, about the museum’s “worrying level of obsolescence,” citing the urgent need for significant renovations.

Criminals duped into Paris’s Natural History Museum last month, seizing gold nuggets worth more than $1.5 million.

After being detained in Barcelona while attempting to dispose of nearly 1 kg (2. 2 pounds) of melted gold pieces, French authorities announced on Tuesday that a 24-year-old Chinese woman had been detained in that case.

Last month, thieves allegedly stole two dishes and a vase from a museum in Limoges, and they also allegedly stole $ 7.6 million from the same establishment.

In a document that covers the Louvre’s 2019 to 2024 time period, with only a quarter of one wing of the museum being subject to video surveillance, France’s Court of Auditors reported.

Following a two-day police investigation and the museum’s regular weekly closure on Tuesday, The Louvre is expected to reopen on Wednesday.

Despite rising attendance at the world-famous museum, whose extensive collections include the Mona Lisa, which has been slashed, labor unions have complained that security staff at the Louvre have been hired.

The Louvre’s website states that “very top of the list of the world’s greatest heritage and museum sites” is the museum, which had 8.9 million visitors last year and 8.9 million in 2023.