Overview
- Prosecutors cited the Louvre conservator in valuing the stolen Napoleonic crown jewels at €88 million, warning the pieces would fetch far less if dismantled or melted.
- Roughly 100 investigators are analyzing fingerprints and CCTV, four people have been identified as present at the scene, and possible inside assistance has not been ruled out.
- The thieves used a rented elevating platform from a bogus moving job to reach a first‑floor balcony, forced a window, cut two vitrines in a seven‑minute operation, and fled on motorcycles.
- Nine objects were taken from the Galerie d’Apollon and one—Empress Eugénie’s crown—was later found outside the museum with damage from the fall.
- Political scrutiny has intensified as the culture minister defends the museum’s security, auditors’ reports of insufficient resources resurface, and the Louvre’s chief appears before senators while the gallery remains closed.