According to AP News, the heist occurred just about half an hour after the Louvre opened to visitors. The thieves smashed two cases, triggering alarms and security agents. They fled with their haul on motorcycles, and the Louvre was closed and evacuated.

One of the most infamous heists in the cultural institution’s history was the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa—when Pablo Picasso numbered among the suspects.

According to the French culture ministry, the group stole a tiara, a sapphire necklace, earrings, jewellery sets of queens and pieces of jewellery from another set.

Thieves in balaclavas broke into Paris's Louvre museum on Sunday, using a crane to smash an upstairs window, then stealing priceless objects from an area that houses the French crown jewels before escaping on motorbikes,

Intruders entered via a basket lift using a platform mounted on a lorry, breaking a window and making off with jewels that "have genuine heritage value and are, in fact, priceless," France's interior minister said.

France's Culture Minister, Rachida Dati, has claimed there has been a robbery at the Louvre in Paris, prompting 'chaos' as the famous museum is closed.

The robbers employed a portable electric ladder to break into a second-floor wing of the Paris museum that holds the French crown jewels.

Intruders entered via a basket lift using a platform mounted on a lorry, breaking a window and making off with jewels that "have genuine heritage value and are, in fact, priceless," France's interior minister said.

French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said a robbery occurred at the Louvre on Sunday morning as thieves reportedly used chainsaws and a freight elevator to steal Napoleon-era jewels

One of the world’s most iconic museums has been hit by masked thieves with chainsaws who carried out their broad daylight heist in just seven minutes.

The Venus de Milo is one of the most representative statues of ancient Greece, it is immediately recognizable by its missing arms.