Lou-dunnit?

Professional thieves broke into the Louvre Sunday morning — stealing priceless jewels that belonged to Napoleon’s family in a brazen daylight heist in Paris. 

The robbers used an aerial lift and an angle grinder to break in through the window of the iconic French attraction, before making off with nine pieces of jewelry, Le Parisien reported.

The gang was in and out in as little as four minutes — and broke in at 9:30 a.m., French outlet Le Monde reported.

The museum was evacuated and closed as police swarmed the area — sparking panic among some tourists.

Among the items snatched were a necklace, a brooch, and a tiara — the exact worth of which are still being calculated.

One of the items, a large bodice bow made up of 2,634 diamonds that belonged to Empress Eugenie, Napoleon III’s wife, was worth $10.5 million alone when the museum bought it in 2008.  

French President Emmanuel Macron slammed the robbery as an attack on his nation’s heritage as he vowed that law enforcement will catch the thieves and retrieve the treasures. 

Here's what was stolen in the brazen Louvre heist

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• A diamond and sapphire tiara, sapphire earrings, and a sapphire necklace belonging to Queen Marie-Amelie, the last queen of France, and Queen Hortense.

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• An emerald necklace and earrings belonging to Marie-Louise, Napoleon Boneparte’s second wife.

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• A tiara belonging to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III.

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• The bodice knot of Empress Eugenie.

“We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice,” Macron said in a statement. “Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor’s office.” 

Video showing one of the suspected thieves using a miniature chainsaw to cut through the glass case surrounding one of the artefacts was shared by French outlet BFMTV.

One of the precious items, believed to be a crown belonging to Napoleon’s wife, Empress Eugenie, was discovered damaged outside the gallery, according to Le Parisien.

“Beyond their market value, the items have inestimable heritage and historical value,” the French Interior Ministry said in a statement.

One of nine targeted items, a crown that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, has been recovered, French magistrate Laure Beccuau told Le Parisien.

The Louvre, home to Leonardo da Vinci’s painting The Mona Lisa, is the world’s most popular museum, attracting nearly 9 million visitors in 2024, regularly drawing more than 30,000 a day.

In June, the museum was forced to close after a mass staff walkout, with workers blaming overcrowding and chronic understaffing.

Unions have claimed mass tourism is putting security at risk.

The news has sparked fury in France, with conservatives branding the scandal a national “humiliation” on Sunday.

“The Louvre is a global symbol of our culture. This heist, which allowed thieves to steal the Crown Jewels of France, is an intolerable humiliation for our country. How far will the decay of the state go?” Jordan Bardella, a politician with the right-wing National Rally Party wrote on X.

Three masked thieves were involved in the crime, which took place in the Apollon Gallery on the second floor of the museum, overlooking the River Seine, at a part of the building where construction work is currently taking place.

The group were hooded and were carrying “small chainsaws,” according to Le Parisien.

One of the robbers waited outside for the others before they made their escape.

They made off on two scooters, heading in the direction of the A6 highway, traveling southeast out of Paris, video surveillance footage shows.

A third scooter was found abandoned after the escape, a police source told AFP.

As well as the French Crown Jewels, the Apollon Gallery also houses a hardstone vessel collection that once belonged to French King Louis XIV, as well as the famous Regent diamond, weighing at over 140 carats.

Beccuau noted that the thieves were all highly “prepared” and “organized,” with the working theory at the moment pointing to an organized crime operation. 

Beccuau’s office said the robbers were either working for “a sponsor,” or they carried out the heist to sell off the jewels to fund “money laundering operations.” 

The prosecutor’s office added that around sixty top investigators have been put on the case, but no set date has been mentioned for when the museum will reopen. 

No one was injured in the raid, French Culture Minister Rachida Dati told reporters at the scene.

Police quickly swarmed on the gallery after the robbery was revealed, sparking panic among visitors.

“The police were running near the pyramid and trying to enter the Louvre through the side glass doors, but they were locked and impossible to open,” visitor Kacie told Le Parisien.

There are fears the thieves will melt down the jewelry to resell the gold, making it hard to track, according to insiders.

“The risk is that some of the diamonds could be sold at retail, which would make reconstituting the jewels very difficult,” a source close to the investigation told Le Parisien.

“All means are already being implemented to recover the loot,” the Paris police headquarters told Le Monde.

The gallery said it would remain closed on Sunday due to “exceptional reasons.”It comes just weeks after thieves stole several gold nuggets from Paris’ Natural History Museum, worth around $700,000.

Also in September, robbers raided a leading porcelain museum in Limoges, central France, causing damages estimated at more than $7 million.

“Organized crime today is targeting art objects,” Minister Dati said, adding that “museums have become targets.”