Brazen daylight theft of crown jewels from the Louvre, in major humiliation for France.

 

The scene of the crime where the criminals gained access to the museum. BBC/EPA.

A brazen theft of crown jewels from the Louvre has humiliated France. BBC. The thieves parked a ladder hoist up into the museum and were able to use power tools to secure the jewels. One piece, a crown worn by Napoleon III's wife, was recovered after the thieves made their escape on scooters. Security did not stop the thieves and many of the thefts occurred in areas where there were no surveillance cameras. The jewels are likely to be lost even if the thieves are caught as they are likely to be broken down. The precious metals will likely be melted down while the jewels will be recut to hide their origin. The jewels that have been stolen have been described as priceless and are a major part of France's cultural heritage. The loss of such treasures and the ease that the theft will be a major humiliation to France. 

My Comment:

From what I understand the thieves pulled the classic "wear a safety vest and nobody will question you". These guys were in and out in a few minutes and they got away clean. It was a near-perfect heist and if it hadn't been for the fact they dropped one of the treasures it would have been. 

These jewels are likely lost forever. The thieves are probably already done with breaking them up and melting down the gold. Cutting the jewels will take longer but the idea that any of these jewels will be recovered intact. It's possible some of them could be recovered, but they won't be in the form they once were and they could no longer be considered France's crown jewels. 

The thieves will likely be caught eventually. I am guessing this is the biggest "redball" case in all of France right now. The entire investigative resources of France will likely be used to track these thieves down. Given there were multiple suspects and the high pressure that the investigative forces will use, I am guessing someone will talk. 

Regardless, it's hard to understate just how humiliating this is to France. These crown jewels are what remains of their legacy in terms of what has survived the 1792 revolution. To see these items stolen, and likely destroyed, is a major humiliation. The fact that they are almost certainly not going to recover these jewels intact means that cultural legacy is going to be destroyed. 

It comes at a very vulnerable moment for France. France has been an absolute mess since snap elections in 2024, where Emmanuel Macron's party lost their majority and they have had a revolving door at the government since then. Macron himself is very unpopular and is seen as a lame duck.

This is going to make things much worse. Folks are going to see this as another major sign of France's decline, and it's hard to argue otherwise. France has been a mess politically for years and is nowhere near the world power it once was. It also raises the question of how this was allowed to happen, and it just seems like it was incompetence all around. Supposedly security did not react to the theft as it was happening. If you can't even protect your most valuable cultural artifacts, how can you protect anything else? How can you run a country that way? It would be like if someone walked into the National Archives and walked out with the constitution, how could anyone take you seriously after that?