On October 19th, a costly heist occurred at the Lourve, a world-famous art museum in Paris, France.

Around 9:30 AM, 30 minutes after the location’s opening, Thieves climbed into the museum via a ladder and took power tools through a window. They threatened guards once on the premises, and then proceeded to cut into the glass that protected the jewels. Out of the 3 sections raided, one had no cameras. On top of no cameras, the building’s localized alarm was broken as well. The thieves were only inside for a total of 4 minutes, and made their getaway on scooters waiting outside the building.  After the heist, the criminals attempted to set their vehicle on fire outside, but were stopped by a staff member.

During an interview, Rachida Dati shared that the cameras caught footage of the criminals entering calmly, smashing the display glass, leaving, and harming no one. 60 or so investigators are working on this case, and so far, they have 4 unidentified suspects. The thieves swindled 8 pieces of sought-after jewelry, including items such as necklaces, earrings, brooches, and even a tiara. All belonged to 19th-century French royalty and imperial rulers. The tiara and brooch belonged to Empress Eugénie, the emerald necklace and earrings came from Empress Marie Louise, and the tiara, necklace, and single earring were part of the sapphire set that belonged to Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense. Empress Eugénie’s crown was lost during the escape but was found with minimal damage.

The Lourve shut down for 3 days following the incident, and tickets were refunded.  According to BBC, the criminals are, “…not going to keep them intact, they are going to break them up, melt down the valuable metal, recut the valuable stones and hide evidence of their crime,”. It’s been almost a week since the crime, and the thieves are yet to be caught.