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.

LONDON -- As the alarms sounded at the Louvre Museum on Sunday morning, four suspects took off on two motorbikes, winding their way through central Paris, allegedly carrying with them a haul of "priceless" jewelry once worn by queens and made of sapphires, diamonds and emeralds.

The famed museum in Paris remained closed a day after the heist. One government official admits that the heist exposed security failings at the museum.

A visual representation of how thieves broke into Paris’ Louvre museum and stole priceless objects from an area that houses the French crown jewels before escaping on motorbikes.

Thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris — the world's most visited museum — early Sunday morning. Museum officials said they stole jewelry and fled. A historic mural honoring local Black history was demolished as part of a construction project along Langston Boulevard in Arlington, Va. earlier this month.

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.

Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau says thieves who stole priceless jewelry from the Louvre Museum in a seven-minute heist may have been hired by a collector.

French Justice Minister Gerard Darmanin said on Monday the jewelry heist at the Louvre museum on Sunday gave a very negative image of France as it implied a failure of security services.