Paris’s Louvre Museum reopens after $102m jewel heist
The heist has renewed scrutiny of security measures in French museums after two were affected by thefts last month. A number of investigators are looking for the culprits, working on the theory that it was an organised crime group that clambered up a ladder to break into the museum. The thieves made off with eight pieces, including an emerald-and-d
iamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise, and a diadem that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds. The thieves dropped a diamond-studded crown as they fled. An investigation “is progressing”, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told local media on Wednesday, saying “more than 100 investigators” had been mobilised. During a meeting of cabinet ministers, President Emmanuel Macron ordered a “speeding up” of security measures at the Louvre, a government spokeswoman said. Calling the financial loss “extraordinary”, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the greater damage was to France’s historical heritage. Beccuau said expert analyses are under way; four people have been identified as present at the scene, and roughly 100 investigators are mapping the crew and any accomplices.