Louvre crown jewel thieves may melt down stolen loot, ex-FBI expert warns

The gang of thieves who robbed the Louvre on Sunday and made off with a few of France’s most well-known crown jewels may lastly have their loot melted, a former FBI artwork crime skilled stated.

Tim Carpenter additionally prompt that the workforce of robbers behind the ‘stunning’ operation had been specializing in treasures of monumental cultural and historic worth.

‘This was a focused theft’ Carpenter said Fox Information digital.

“They knew precisely what they had been going for, they usually understood the worth and cultural significance of those items,” he continued. “In addition they understood that this was extraordinarily necessary for the French individuals.”

ANCIENT BRACELET THEFT FROM MUSEUM ADDS LIST OF OTHER PRICELESS ARTIFACTS STOLEN AND DESTROYED WORLDWIDE

Forensic law enforcement officials arrive on the Louvre Museum after stories of a theft in Paris, France, October 19, 2025. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

Additionally “stunning,” Carpenter famous, “is that it was a daytime theft whereas the museum was open.”

The Louvre was pressured to shut its doorways after the daring morning theft, which occurred inside seven minutes and left police racing to get the jewels again.

The raid, round 9:30 a.m. native time, focused the museum’s Apollo Gallery, residence to historic treasures associated to Napoleon and Empress Eugénie.

The crew reportedly stole a crown believed to have belonged to Empress Eugénie. Le Parisien reported.

In response to De Associated pressEight objects had been taken, together with a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from an identical set related to Nineteenth-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense.

An emerald necklace and earrings from Empress Marie-Louise’s matching set had been additionally reportedly snatched alongside a reliquary brooch, Empress Eugénie’s diadem and her giant brooch with corsage bow.

“They are often melted down or taken aside,” Carpenter defined. “They knock stones out of the crowns, lower the stones and market them individually.”

EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS ARRIVE TO RESTORE ANCIENT PAINTING STOLEN FROM ‘CURSED’ TOMB FROM RECENT THEFTS

Thieves carried out a daytime heist on the Louvre, stealing French crown jewels. (Thibault Camus/AP)

In response to French day by day Le Parisien, the thieves, two of whom had been disguised as building employees, entered the museum after parking subsequent to it. They prolonged an elevator to a first-floor window and smashed it open with an angle grinder.

The time “is when the museum is probably the most chaotic. Folks begin to settle in,” Carpenter added.

“They broke via a window and made it very brazen. These guys are quick they usually transfer quick with a goal, they usually break in, they usually get in there in a short time,” he added.

After the theft, Inside Minister Laurent Nuñez spoke to the radio station France Inter and stated the thieves “entered from exterior utilizing a basket raise” and “a disc cutter” to chop home windows containing helpful jewellery.

“The investigation has begun and an in depth listing of the stolen objects is being compiled,” the ministry additionally stated in a press release. “Along with their market worth, this stuff have invaluable heritage and historic worth.”

THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS URGE WORLD FAMOUS LANDMARK TO CLOSE ITS DOORS TO TOURISTS

The Louvre is the most important and possibly busiest museum on this planet. (iStock)

See also  Hero cops and God saved lives after the shooter opened fire, Eric Adams says

“Being a historic constructing, pure vulnerabilities simply occur, and these guys simply discovered one and located a technique to exploit it,” Carpenter stated.

“That is undoubtedly a danger,” he continued. “If you take a look at a constructing just like the Louvre… there at all times must be a steadiness.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“I believe the native authorities there have an excellent likelihood of conducting a extremely efficient felony investigation, figuring out these perpetrators and hopefully recovering these items earlier than they’re misplaced to us,” Carpenter concluded.

Fox Information Digital contacted the Louvre for remark.