A Well-Placed Ladder Was Key to Daring Louvre Heist

New details have surfaced on how burglars pulled off an incredible daylight heist at the Louvre over the weekend, one that El Pais notes is already being labeled the "theft of the century:"

• Four thieves were involved in the Sunday morning caper. Authorities say they used a truck with an extendable ladder—one that might more typically be used to move furniture—to access a first-floor balcony of the Apollon Gallery, on the Seine River side of the museum, per the Guardian.
• After cutting through a window, the thieves used the same equipment to break into display cases and steal several pieces of priceless 19th-century jewelry, including a necklace Napoleon gave to his wife, per the BBC.
• The thieves—some wore high-visibility vests in apparent attempt to look like construction workers—were in and out in seven minutes and escaped on scooters or motorcycles. They remain at large, and now dozens of investigators are trying to figure out how they made it look so easy.

• "What is certain is that we have failed, since people were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of Paris, get people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewels, and give France a terrible image," said French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin.
• One stolen-art expert tells the BBC that the jewelry will likely be gone for good—possibly dismantled and melted down—unless recovered within 48 hours. "There is a race going on right now," says Chris Marinello of Art Recovery International.
• The heist already is playing into national politics. President Emmanuel Macron said the government was doing everything it could to catch the thieves. But far-right groups weren't having it. "How far will the disintegration of the state go?" said National Rally party leader Jordan Bardella, calling the heist "an unbearable humiliation for our country."