Stolen Louvre jewels were worth an estimated $157 million

Paris: The Paris prosecutor said on Tuesday that crown jewels stolen in a dramatic weekend Louvre heist were worth an estimated 88 million euros ($157 million), but that the monetary estimate doesn’t include their historical value to France.

Prosecutor Laure Beccuau, whose office is leading the investigation, said about 100 investigators are now involved in the police hunt for the suspects and gems after Sunday’s theft from the world’s most-visited museum.

A witness recorded the robbery as it unfolded.

“The wrongdoers who took these gems won’t earn 88 million euros if they had the very bad idea of disassembling these jewels,” she said in an interview with broadcaster RTL.

“We can perhaps hope that they’ll think about this and won’t destroy these jewels without rhyme or reason.”

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