The jewels stolen from the Louvre are worth an estimated €88m (£76m), a Paris prosecutor has said.
Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said about 100 investigators were involved in the police hunt for the suspects and the gems following the heist on Sunday from the world’s most-visited museum.
“The wrongdoers who took these gems won’t earn €88m if they had the very bad idea of disassembling these jewels,” she told broadcaster RTL.
“We can perhaps hope that they’ll think about this and won’t destroy these jewels without rhyme or reason.”
It comes after France’s culture minister said the security apparatus installed at the Louvre worked properly during the theft, after questions emerged about the security and whether security cameras might have failed.
The thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre’s facade, forced a window open, smashed display cases and then fled with the priceless Napoleonic jewels.
“The Louvre museum’s security apparatus did not fail, that is a fact,” the minister, Rachida Dati. “The Louvre museum’s security apparatus worked.”
Members of a forensic team inspect a window believed to have been used by the culprits. Pic: Reuters
‘A wound for all of us’
Ms Dati said she had launched an administrative inquiry, in addition to the police investigation, to ensure full transparency into what happened.
She described the heist as a painful injury for France, saying it was “a wound for all of us”.
“Why? Because the Louvre is far more than the world’s largest museum. It’s a showcase for our French culture and our shared patrimony.”
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How ‘one of the biggest manhunts in French history’ is unfolding
What will happen to the stolen jewellery?
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‘Matter of time’ before gang hit Louvre
Cameras ‘all around the Louvre’
On Monday, France’s interior minister, Laurent Nunez, said the museum’s alarm was triggered when the thieves forced the window of the Apollo Gallery.
Police officers arrived at the site two or three minutes after they were called by an individual who witnessed the scene, he said on LCI TV.
Officials said the heist lasted less than eight minutes, including less than four minutes inside the Louvre.
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The stolen items revealed
Workers ‘repeatedly warned of security shortcomings’
Mr Nunez did not disclose details about video surveillance cameras that may have filmed the thieves around and in the museum, pending a police investigation.
“There are cameras all around the Louvre,” he said.
According to officials, eight items were stolen during the heist:
• A tiara from the set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense
• A necklace from the sapphire set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense
• A single earring, from the pair belonging to the sapphire set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense
• An emerald necklace from the Empress Marie Louise set
• A pair of emerald earrings from the Empress Marie Louise set
• A brooch known as the “reliquary brooch”
• The tiara of Empress Eugenie
• A large corsage bow brooch of Empress Eugenie
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