What to Know About the Shocking Louvre Jewelry Heist

can french TV series Lupine Was it prophetic? The show imagined a robbery at the Louvre, an event that became a reality on the morning of October 19, when a team of professional thieves managed to break into the world-famous Paris Museum. In just seven minutes, they steal the priceless French crown jewels.

The robbery happened at around 9:30 am local time, shortly after the museum was opened to the public. Using a truck-mounted ladder, the thieves entered the Galerie d’Apollo – located in the Louvre’s Petite Gallery wing – through a second-floor window they forced open with an angle grinder.

After breaking in, the robbers smashed at least two display cases, took valuable artifacts, and then fled a few minutes later on two Yamaha scooters, disappearing into traffic and soon onto the highway.

Included in the loot, according to French authorities, were eight crown jewels, almost all dating to the late Napoleonic era. A ninth item, Empress Eugenie’s diamond- and emerald-laden crown, was found damaged nearby, apparently dropped by fleeing criminals. Thieves made off with a tiara belonging to Napoleon III’s wife in full imperial style, adorned with 212 pearls, 1,998 diamonds and another 992 rose-cut diamonds. They also took a bow brooch of Empress Eugenie with 2,438 diamonds and 196 rose-cut stones. Also in the casting is a parur – a tiara with 24 Ceylon sapphires and 1,083 diamonds, with eight impressive sapphires, more diamond and gold work, and a pendant earring of Queen Maria Amalia.

It is difficult to put a number on the value of this jewelry collection; They are not mere luxuries with their own specific value, but invaluable resources. The literal value of gems, stones and gold is compounded by their historical value, not to mention the fact that they are part of the heritage of the French state, which makes selling them on traditional markets probably impossible. However, it is possible that, often in such thefts, the robbers will disassemble the artifacts, melt down the precious metals, cut the jewelry to make it less traceable, and sell it on the gray or black market, potentially making millions of euros.

Whatever its outcome, the Louvre heist was a masterful operation. Some analysts say the thieves exploited weaknesses in the museum’s security system, which has struggled for years with staffing problems, constant work in progress and pressure from additional and growing visitors. A nationwide and international manhunt has now begun. There are no specific suspects at this point, but all available footage of the area (including a video that shows a burglar at work) is apparently being examined.

With all the surveillance footage and cameras now spread all over the city, there should be plenty of material to identify potential leads. President Emmanuel Macron strongly condemned the incident and assured that those responsible would soon be brought to justice. Long gone, moreover, are the days when the Italian decorator Vincenzo Perugia Considered the biggest theft in Louvre history: Leonardo’s daring misappropriation the mona lisawhich took place on August 21, 1911.

That painting returned two years later; Perugia tried to resell it to a Florentine art dealer who then raised the alarm. Maybe a similar stroke of luck could happen in this case as well.

This story originally appeared Wired Italia and translated from the Italian.