The 48 hours that will determine the fate of Louvre’s stolen jewellery

London : Sunday began as a chilly, overcast, autumnal morning in Paris. But as early bird tourists queued outside the Louvre, a daring high-stakes heist was unfolding mere metres away.

In broad daylight, at around 9.30am (6.30pm AEDT), shortly after the opening of the world’s largest museum, a group of “three or four” masked men, seemingly unnoticed, entered the Apollo Gallery (The Galerie d’Apollon) after using a van-mounted extendable ladder.

This highly ornate gallery is reminiscent of the Palace of Versailles and is where the remains of France’s crown jewels are housed. Using small chainsaws, the thieves broke into glass display cases and stole nine items of jewellery, including a necklace and a brooch.

They then crept out of the museum and escaped on scooters. The whole episode