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

The world-famous Paris art museum was preparing to open on Sunday when a gang broke in to plunder priceless jewellery that once belonged to the family of Napoleon Bonaparte

From the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911 to the French Crown Jewels heist this past weekend, the Parisian museum has seen some audacious crimes over the decades.

The eight priceless pieces of jewellery stolen in an audacious heist from the Louvre Museum in Paris span two centuries of history.

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 spectacular art heist at the Paris Louvre also affects Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis: Among the stolen crown jewels is the tiara she wore at her 1980 wedding in Regensburg. The historical piece of jewelry made of pearls and diamonds once belonged to Empress Eugénie.

The precious artifacts snatched from Paris’s Louvre Museum on Sunday include an emerald necklace gifted by Napolean to his second wife and other priceless crown jewels.