The world’s largest art museum, the Louvre, holds around half a million objects, with about 30,000 on display and more than 8 million visitors a year. That’s a lot to watch over — especially on a Sunday.

In a cleverly executed operation, four men in fluorescent vests arrived at the Louvre in a flatbed truck around 9:30 a.m. Raising an extendable ladder to the second storey, they cut through a window, entered the Galerie d’Apollon and, using power tools, helped themselves to nine exquisite objects: France’s royal jewels, once owned by Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.

For the thieves, that’s where the trouble begins. Such treasures can’t be worn or sold openly — their images are everywhere. The best hope is to melt the gold and sell the gems separately. Eugénie’s crown alone, dropped

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