NBC Boston spoke to an art theft expert who is also the director of security and chief investigator at the Gardner Museum about the logistics of this heist at the Louvre and what the thieves might be planning to do with the crown jewels. The plot was carried out just 30 minutes after the Louvre opened on Sunday morning.

Cultural institutions are seen as “soft targets,” experts say, as thieves shift from stealing prized paintings, to artifacts that can be dismantled, stripped or melted down for their expensive parts.

On Sunday, art thieves entered the Apollo Gallery at the Louvre in Paris and left with eight items of jewelry said to be of “incalculable” worth. Among them: a crown worn by Empress Eugénie, set with 212 pearls and nearly 3,000 diamonds.

A new video has emerged showing what could be the Louvre thieves in action as they carried out Sunday’s daylight robbery at Paris’s world-famous museum. The footage, obtained by French broadcaster BFMTV, purportedly shows what has been called one of the most brazen art thefts in recent memory.

The Louvre in Paris was robbed in 7 minutes but this isn’t the first time art and jewels have been stolen: The Louvre's recent jewel heist echoes a lo

Sunday’s robbery at the Paris museum could be the latest example of thieves targeting museums for jewels and precious metals to break down and sell on.

The Louvre museum was hit by a brazen daytime jewel heist, forcing the Paris institution to close its doors for a second day in a row.

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