巴黎和伦敦——官员称，周日，几名伪装成建筑工人的人闯入世界闻名的巴黎卢浮宫博物馆，砸开陈列柜，偷走了曾经属于拿破仑皇帝和他妻子的珠宝。
两名部长说，在窃贼骑摩托车逃跑之前，至少有9件“具有不可估量的遗产和历史价值”的珠宝——包括皇冠、项链、耳环和胸针——在这次无耻的抢劫中被抢走。
博物馆在一份声明中说，“调查已经开始，被盗物品的精确清单正在编制中。”
法国文化部周日晚些时候公布了一份他们称被盗的八件物品的清单，其中包括两件胸针、两件王冠、两条项链和两对耳环。
法国总统伊曼纽尔马克龙在社交媒体上发誓，被盗珠宝将被追回。
“在卢浮宫犯下的盗窃行为是对我们珍惜的遗产的攻击，因为这是我们的历史，”马克龙说。“我们将收回作品，肇事者将被绳之以法。在巴黎检察官办公室的领导下，各地正在尽一切努力实现这一目标。”
据当局称，四名窃贼实施了这起显然是精心策划的抢劫。
巴黎警察局在一份声明中说，盗窃发生在当地时间周日上午9点30分左右，就在博物馆向公众开放之前。
据巴黎警方称，这群小偷开着一辆警方称之为“移动货梯”的车来到博物馆的一侧，这辆车的后部装有一个金属梯子，一直延伸到一扇窗户。
根据警方的声明，“他们部署了货运电梯，用建筑锥保护周围，然后用角磨机打碎窗户，进入阿波罗画廊的二楼。”“在里面，他们用角磨机砸碎了两个陈列柜，分别是‘拿破仑珠宝’和‘法国皇冠珠宝’，并偷走了大量贵重珠宝。”
据警方称，其中两名窃贼乘坐移动货梯抵达博物馆，一名穿着黄色背心，另一名穿着橙色背心。两名同伙同时乘坐警方描述的“T-max汽车”或运动摩托车抵达博物馆。
根据警方的声明，“现场的工作人员看到发生的事情后，转移到了安全的地方”。“上午9点37分触发了警报。肇事者从窗户出去，回到货梯，然后在上午9点38分乘坐两辆摩托车逃跑。”
巴黎检察官办公室表示，犯罪分子在逃离现场前，试图放火焚烧他们在抢劫中使用的移动货运电梯，但没有成功。
警方表示，他们正在调查法国新闻广播电视和电台网络BFMTV获得的一段视频，他们认为该视频显示一名嫌疑人似乎试图进入其中一个珠宝案件。
抢劫发生后，警方在现场发现了两台角磨机、一个喷灯、汽油、手套、一部对讲机、一条毯子和一顶皇冠。警方还在离卢浮宫几个街区的Pont de Sully和Avenue Henri IV的拐角处发现了一件黄色背心，这显然是一名逃跑的肇事者丢弃的。
法国内政部长洛朗·努内斯在接受当地电台采访时表示，这些物品的价值“无法估量”
据法国文化部称，失窃的物品中有玛丽-陈月娇女王和霍坦丝女王收藏的一顶王冠;一条祖母绿项链和一对祖母绿耳环，来自拿破仑的第二任妻子玛丽-路易斯的收藏;还有欧也妮皇后胸衣上的大蝴蝶结胸针。
根据巴黎检察官办公室的说法，窃贼在离开博物馆时，要么掉了要么抛弃了两件珠宝，包括欧也妮皇后的一顶王冠。巴黎检察官办公室表示，正在将此案作为有组织团伙的严重盗窃和犯罪阴谋进行调查。
他说，所谓的抢劫不到7分钟。
不久之后，卢浮宫网站上发布的通知称，“由于特殊原因，卢浮宫博物馆今天将继续关闭。我们感谢您的理解。”
博物馆官员在一份声明中说，关闭博物馆的决定是由其管理层、警方和内政部共同做出的。声明称，门被关闭是“一种安全措施，并为调查保留痕迹和证据”。
从美国来巴黎参观的卡茨·贝内代蒂告诉ABC新闻，周日她排队进入博物馆时，人群开始骚动。她说，警察沿着Benedetti和她的家人等待的院子跑。
她看到警察试图从侧门进入大楼，但“因为门锁着，所以进不去”，她说。
“我们可以看到里面的人在跑，有些人在敲打玻璃门想出去，但他们不能出去，因为门被锁上了，”Benedetti说。“然后警察和宪兵就到了。大约一小时后他们宣布卢浮宫今天关闭的时间。"
抢劫的消息首先来自法国文化部长拉齐达·达蒂说在社交媒体上，“今天早上在卢浮宫博物馆的开幕式上发生了抢劫。”
达蒂补充道，“没有人员伤亡报告。我和博物馆团队以及警察都在现场。调查正在进行。”
艺术复苏国际公司的首席执行官和创始人Christopher Marinello告诉ABC新闻，卢浮宫的安全被称为“世界上最好的”
“所以这是一个非常大胆的犯罪，是对各地博物馆的一记耳光，”马里内洛说，并补充说，调查人员现在正在“与时间赛跑”，以在窃贼试图将这些物品卖给可能不会完整购买这些物品的买家之前追回被盗珠宝。
马里内洛说:“犯罪分子试图隐藏他们刚刚做的事情，他们隐藏的方式是打碎那些珠宝，重新切割那些宝石，熔化贵金属。”“他们现在正在这么做。警方只有很短的时间来定位这些小偷并试图找回这些物品。”
Nathalie Abbou Vidal一生都被经历过革命、加冕皇帝和战争的珠宝所包围。作为法国领先的珠宝历史学家之一，她在著名的高级珠宝学院任教，并为主要拍卖行和法国法院提供咨询。
她告诉美国广播公司新闻说，这些珍宝“太重要了，充满了历史，是我们的一部分”，可以为了利益而拆除，这几乎是不可想象的。
“黄金的重量不算什么。钻石是古老的欧洲石头，有几个世纪的历史了。你不能把它们分开，”她说。
她认为，即使是黑市也很难抹去这些艺术品的身份。“它们不仅仅是物品。它们是我们传统的一部分。”
Louvre Museum heist: Jewels with 'inestimable' value stolen from Napoleon collection
PARIS and LONDON -- Several people disguised as construction workers broke into the world-famous Louvre museum in Paris on Sunday, cracking open display cases and stealing jewelry that once belonged to Emperor Napoleon and his wife, officials said.
At least nine pieces of jewelry of "inestimable heritage and historical value" -- including crowns, necklaces, earrings and brooches -- were taken in the brazen heist before the thieves made their getaway on motorcycles, two ministers said.
"Investigations have begun, and a precise list of the stolen items is underway," the museum said in a statement.
The French Ministry of Culture later on Sunday released a list of eight items that they said had been stolen, which included two brooches, two diadems, two necklaces and two pairs of earrings.
French President EmmanuelMacron vowed in a social media post that the stolen jewelry will be recovered.
"The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history," Macron said. "We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor's office."
Four thieves pulled off the apparently well-planned heist, according to authorities.
The theft took place around 9:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, just before the museum was set to open to the public, the Paris Police Prefecture said in a statement.
The team of thieves drove up to the side of the museum in what police described as a "mobile freight elevator" equipped with a metal ladder on the back that was extended up to a window, according to the Paris police.
"They deployed the freight elevator, securing the surroundings with construction cones, before accessing the second floor, in the Apollo gallery, by breaking the window with an angle grinder," according to the police statement. "Inside, they then smashed two display cases, 'Napoleon jewels' and 'French crown jewels,' using the angle grinder and stole numerous pieces of high-value jewelry."
Two of the thieves arrived at the museum in the mobile freight elevator, one wearing a yellow vest and the other an orange vest, according to police. Two accomplices arrived at the museum at the same time on what police described as "T-max vehicles" or sports motorbikes.
"The staff on site, upon seeing what was happening, took to safety," according to the police statement. "An alarm was triggered at 9:37 a.m. The perpetrators exited through the window by going back down the freight elevator before fleeing on the two motorbikes at 9:38 a.m."
The Paris Prosecutor's Office said the perpetrators tried and failed to set fire to the mobile freight elevator they used in the heist before they fled the scene.
Police say they're investigating a video obtained by BFMTV, a French news broadcast television and radio network, which they believe shows one of the suspects appearing to try to access one of the jewelry cases.
Following the heist, police found two angle grinders, a blowtorch, gasoline, gloves, a walkie-talkie, a blanket, and a crown at the scene. Police also found a yellow vest that was apparently dropped by one of the fleeing perpetrators at the corner of Pont de Sully and Avenue Henri IV, several blocks from the Louvre, police said.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, in an interview on local radio, said the value of the items would be "inestimable."
According to the French Ministry of Culture, among the items stolen was a diadem, or crown, from the collection of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense; an emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings from the collection of Marie-Louise, Napoleon's second wife; and a large bow brooch from Empress Eugenie's bodice.
The thieves either dropped or abandoned two pieces of jewelry as they exited the museum, including one of Empress Eugénie’s crowns, according to the Paris Prosecutor’s Office, which said it is investigating the case as an aggravated theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy to commit a crime.
The alleged robbery took less than seven minutes, he said.
A notification posted on the Louvre's website shortly afterward said, "The Louvre Museum will remain closed today for exceptional reasons. We thank you for your understanding."
The decision to close the museum was made jointly by its management, the police and the Ministry of the Interior, museum officials said in a statement. The doors were closed as "a security measure and to preserve traces and evidence for the investigation," the statement said.
Kaci Benedetti, who was visiting Paris from the United States, told ABC News she was standing in line to enter the museum on Sunday when a commotion began. Police were running along the courtyard where Benedetti and her family were waiting, she said.
She watched as the officers attempted to enter the building through a side door, but "could not because they were locked," she said.
"We could see people inside running and some were banging on the glass doors to get out, but could not because they were locked," Benedetti said. "Then police and military police arrived. After about anhour they announced the Louvre was closed for today."
The news of the robbery came first from French Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, whosaidon social media, "A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum."
Dati added, "No injuries to report. I am on site alongside the museum teams and the police. Investigations underway."
Christopher Marinello, the CEO and founder of Art Recovery International, told ABC News that security at the Louvre is known as "the best in the world."
"So this is a very audacious crime and a slap in the face to museums everywhere," Marinello said, adding that investigators are now "in a race against time" to recover the stolen jewelry before the thieves attempt to sell the items to buyers who likely will not purchase the pieces intact.
"The criminals are going to try to hide what they have just done and the way they hide it is by breaking up those jewels, by recutting those stones, by melting down the precious metals," Marinello said. "They are now doing that. And the police have a very short window to locate these thieves and try to recover these items."
Nathalie Abbou Vidal has spent her life surrounded by jewels that have lived through revolutions, crowned emperors and survived wars. As one of France’s leading jewelry historians, she teaches at the prestigious Haute Ecole de Joaillerie and advises major auction houses and the French courts.
She told ABC News the idea that these treasures -- "too important, too full of history, too much a part of who we are" -- could be dismantled for profit is almost unthinkable.
"The weight of the gold is nothing. The diamonds -- they’re old European stones, centuries old. You can’t just break them apart," she said.
Even the black market, she believes, will struggle to erase the identity of the pieces. "They’re not just objects. They’re part of our heritage."
