Major Louvre update 3 days after astonishing heist sees '£76m worth of jewellery' stolen

£76 million worth of royal jewels were stolen from the Louvre on Sunday (Image: Getty)

The world-renowned Louvre museum in Paris reopened to visitors on Wednesday (October 22), three days after thieves stole royal jewels believed to be worth €88 million (£76 million) in a shocking daylight heist. Louvre Director, Laurence des Cars, is also set to face questioning by a cultural committee at the French Senate later today amid questions over the security provisions at the world's most visited museum, home to the Mona Lisa painting.

Ms Des Cars, who has run the Louvre since 2021, has not made any public statement since the thieves stole the jewels in just seven minutes. This comes after two other institutions were hit last month, sparking a row over security at French museums. "The Louvre curator estimated the damages to be €88 million," Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Tuesday. The items were not privately insured, France's Ministry of Culture said in a statement to Le Parisien. However, the greater loss has been to France's historical heritage, Ms Beccuau said, adding that the thieves would not pocket the full windfall if they had "the very bad idea of melting down these jewels".

The thieves made off with eight items including a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie (Image: Getty)

A manhunt is now underway to find Sunday's culprits. Investigators are working on a theory that it was an "organised crime group" that climbed an extendable ladder on a truck to break into the museum - like those frequently used by movers in Paris - below the museum's Apollo Gallery shortly after it opened. They then climbed up and used cutting equipment to get through a window and open display cases to steal the jewellery. As they fled, they then dropped a diamond-studded crown, France24 reported.

Prosecutor Beccuau confirmed that four people were involved in the robbery and said that authorities were analysing fingerprints found at the scene. Video camera footage from around the museum and of main highways outside of Paris is also being trawled for signs of the robbers, who escaped the scene on scooters. 

The thieves made off with eight priceless pieces, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon Bonaparte gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise and a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, which boasts nearly 2,000 diamonds.

A report by France's Court of Auditors, covering 2019 to 2024, was seen by AFP and pointed to a "persistent" delay in security upgrades at the Louvre. Only a fourth of one wing was covered by video surveillance.

The Louvre reopened on Wednesday, three days after the daylight heist (Image: Getty)

In January, Ms Des Cars had warned Culture Minister Rachida Dati of a "worrying level of obsolescence" at the museum, citing an urgent need for major renovations.

On Tuesday, the museum responded to criticism that the display cases protecting the jewellery were fragile, saying they were installed in 2019 and "represented a considerable improvement in terms of security."

Labour unions have complained that security staff positions at the Louvre have been cut despite soaring attendance figures, with a union official adding: "We cannot do without physical surveillance".