PARIS - The Louvre will remain closed on Monday after thieves stole several pieces of priceless jewellery in a daring daytime robbery.
A raid on France's top museum that saw thieves flee with royal jewels has raised awkward questions about how well the country's priceless cultural heritage is being protected.
How could robbers with power tools break in and steal crowns and sapphire and emerald necklaces? And how can a museum spanning 73,000 square metres and housing around 35,000 works of art be secured?
The government said authorities had already begun reviewing security at the vast Paris venue before the heist. Labour unions there have complained that security staff positions there have been cut.
The culture ministry said in a statement that alarms linked to the windows of the Apollo Gallery went off when the thieves penetrated them in a "particularly fast and brutal break-in".
It said five museum guards present in the gallery and nearby spaces "immediately intervened to implement security protocol", prompting the thieves to flee. No one was hurt.
Authorities and the art world speculated on Sunday about who the suspects were and where the stolen Louvre jewels may be headed.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on the radio that "a seasoned team" of thieves was suspected to be behind it, one that had "already committed other deeds of this nature".
The president of the leading auctioneer Drouot Patrimoine, Alexandre Giquello, said Sunday he found it "hard to believe" the Louvre jewels were stolen to order, judging the famous treasures "totally unsellable in their current state".
"In this operation, the most complicated part is not the theft, but the fencing," he told television channel LCI.