A minute-by-minute look at the daring Louvre robbery, using maps, photos and video to unravel how one of the world’s most famous museums was breached.

PARIS and LONDON -- Several people disguised as construction workers broke into the world-famous Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday, cracking open display cases and stealing jewelry that once belonged to Emperor Napoleon and his wife, officials said.

High visitor numbers and dwindling funds for overhauls may have made the landmark museum unexpectedly vulnerable.

France will review the protection of cultural sites across the country and beef up security if needed, officials said on Monday as a manhunt was under way for the four people who staged an audacious daylight robbery at the Louvre museum.

Authorities were racing Monday to reassure the public about security at key cultural sites — and find the jewels stolen from the museum before they can be broken up and melted down.

More than 25 years before Sunday's heist at the iconic museum, a thief took a 19th-century painting in broad daylight.

France ordered a security review at the Louvre and checks at other cultural sites on Monday while a hunt was underway for thieves who lifted priceless crown jewels in an audacious daylight heist at the world's most popular museum.

A manhunt is underway to find the four thieves before the jewels - which once belonged to French royals - are broken up.

France's Interior Ministry said that around 9.30am several intruders forced open a window, stole jewels from vitrines and fled on two-wheelers.View on euronews

Thieves at the Louvre museum stole eight items of "incalcuable" value from a collection of French crown jewels, including items belonging to Empress Eugénie, Queen Hortense and more