The morning of Sunday, Oct. 19th, the Louvre Museum in Paris was open as usual, with its bustling crowds, as a melting pot of history from the Mona Lisa, to the crowns of Napoleon I. With international significance and blending culture. But this morning, clever heisters came over the frame. 

CNN said that this is in the wake of work being done on this building, by the Sein river where a ladder for work was tilted up to the Apollo gallery where coincidentally the thieves made their entrance.

What makes this case interesting is the broad daylight that this robbery was made under, at 9 am just as visitors were arriving. This heist was skillfully and carefully carried out within a seven minute time period, which according french president, Emmanuel Macron, was not only professional and premeditated but also “…an attack on a heritage we cherish because it is part of our history,”

As history goes, pieces such as a “single earring from the sapphire parure of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, an emerald necklace and pair of emerald earrings from the parure of Empress Marie-Louise, the “reliquary brooch,” and the tiara and large corsage bow brooch of Empress Eugénie…” according to CNN

While the thieves have not yet been found and charged, they are looking at a sentence of “aggravated theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy to commit a felony.” But more importantly the misplacement, physical damage and more as these pieces have weathered, dating back to the 16th century, both Italian and French pieces.

According to Christopher Marinello, the founder of Art Recovery International, “if the thieves are just looking to get cash out as quickly as possible, they might melt down the precious metals or recut the stones with no regard for the piece’s integrity.” 

What can be hoped is that the police find the perpetrators that are still at large and French, as well as European heritage in art is restored to its home.