The hunt was on Monday for the band of thieves who stole eight priceless royal pieces of jewellery from the Louvre Museum in the heart of Paris in broad daylight.
Officials said a team of 60 investigators were working on the theory that the raid was planned and executed by an organised crime group.
In France, it reignited a row over the lack of security in France’s museums, which the new Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledged Sunday was a “major weak spot”.
The thieves arrived between 9:30 and 9:40 am (0730 and 0740 GMT) Sunday, shortly after the museum opened to the public at 9:00 am, a source close to the investigation said.
They used a furniture hoist to get access to the Apollo Gallery, home to the royal collection, and cutting equipment to get in through a window and open the display cases.
A brief clip of the raid, apparently filmed on the phone of a visitor to the museum, was broadcast on French news channels.
The masked thieves stole nine 19th-century items of jewellery, one of which — the crown of the Empress Eugenie — was dropped and damaged as they made their escape.
