On October 19th, four people broke into the Louvre at 9:30 a.m. local Paris time. This was thirty minutes after the most visited museum in the world opened its doors to the public—some of whom watched the thieves break into the vitrines in the Apollon Gallery. 

There are a lot of questions about how these thieves were able to steal approximately €88m ($102m) of jewellery (though experts say it is culturally priceless), but the problematic thing for France and its museums is that there isn’t much to tell.

The thieves came with a mechanical ladder mounted to a vehicle, which they used to climb up to a terrace into the Louvre. The one camera on the exterior wall of the Apollon Gallery was not pointing at the balcony through which the thieves entered. They were in the Apollon Gallery by 9:30 a.m. with the help of some power tools, and they made their escape within 8 minutes with the help of just two scooters.

Within those 8 minutes, they stole multiple items in tangent to Napoleon: the diadem of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, which had about 2,000 diamonds; Eugénie’s brooch and decorated bow, which had over 2,400 diamonds; a sapphire jewellery set worn by the rulers of Holland, who were related to Napoleon); and an emerald set given in 1810 by Napoleon to his second wife. The ninth object taken, the crown of the aforementioned Eugénie, was dropped during their escape. Its condition is unknown as of now.

If anyone is wondering, the Apollon Gallery is in no way similar to the gallery in which the Mona Lisa is displayed. The Apollon Gallery is essentially a ballroom with a few glass cases and even fewer security guards. Those few security guards were threatened by the angle-grinder-wielding thieves and focused on evacuating the visitors while the thieves cut into the vitrines with said angle grinders. 

So far, Paris Public Prosecutor Laure Beccuau has informed the press that two suspects have been arrested, but the arrest will expire, so to speak, if the two are not charged by Wednesday, November 5th. The two suspects were caught thanks to DNA evidence on a getaway scooter and one of the windows broken from the balcony. One was arrested at an airport in Paris attempting to get on a flight (with no return ticket), and the other was arrested near his home. Both lived in a Paris suburb and were previously convicted of robberies.

Unfortunately, there is yet to be word on the jewels, and there is palpable fear that they are being broken up and being sold. Around three investigations are still ongoing, and many are wondering about the state of the crown jewels and the state of France’s museums. 

For anyone curious to see how it actually happened, there is a video obtained by a French broadcaster, taken by a tourist of the thieves cutting through the glass.