THIS is the shocking moment a thief breaks open the display case inside the Louvre in an astonishing multi-million pound heist.

Cops have launched a widespread manhunt for the “highly organised” gang after they stormed the Parisian museum on Sunday and made off with some of the world’s premier treasures.

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The moment a brazen thief breaks open a display case in the LouvreCredit: BFMTV
 

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He cuts through the windowCredit: BFMTV
 

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The clip was reportedly filmed by a visitorCredit: BFMTV
The four thieves are thought to have been equipped with power tools – including chainsaws – to smash their way in and bust open two display cabinets.

Dramatic footage shows one of the gang members brazenly cutting through the window protecting the highly valuable jewels.

The clip, which was reportedly filmed by a visitor, shows the man dressed in black and a high-vis jacket.

The jacket is believed to have been stolen from Paris City Hall.

According to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez: “The window was cut through, using a hand-held disc cutter”.

A chainsaw was then used to force his way into the cabinet, he added.

Paris’s chief prosecutor Laure Beccuau, told BFMTV the criminals wore masks to hide their faces as they stole eight priceless and historical pieces from the Louvre’s Apollo gallery.

President Emmanuel Macron promised that the thieves would be caught and the items they stole recovered.

In a statement, he said: “Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor’s office.”

‘HIGHLY ORGANISED’

The seven-minute smash-and-grab heist saw the “highly organised” gang scale the side of the world-famous museum before smashing inside and making off with a stash of some of the world’s premier treasures.

The trio pulled up on scooters to the museum at around 9:30am, targeting the side of the Apollo Gallery building facing the River Seine.

Inside, the gallery houses some of France’s most precious treasures – including the royal jewels.

A cherry-picker gave them access to the first floor, and three of them climbed onto the balcony.

They then used a glass cutter to break through the window – with two of the gang dashing inside while one stayed as lookout.

The gang are thought to have been equipped with power tools – including chainsaws – to smash their way in and bust open two display cabinets.

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Over the course of just seven minutes, the thieves grabbed nine glittering pieces from the Napoleon and Empress Joséphine collection – but dropped one as they tore off.

Among the missing items are a necklace, brooch and tiara, according to Le Parisien.

The thieves then fled on TMax scooters towards the A6 motorway.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez branded the lightning-fast theft a “major robbery”.

Among the treasures ripped from display cases was the famed Eugénie Crown — a dazzling Second Empire piece created in 1855 and encrusted with thousands of diamonds and emeralds.

Worn by Empress Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III, the crown was found tossed below a Louvre window and damaged after the gang made off.

Alexandre Giquello, president of the Drouot auction house, said the crown alone was worth “several tens of millions of euros—just this crown. And it’s not, in my opinion, the most important item.”

Tourists fled in panic from the Louvre after the dramatic robbery forced the evacuation and closure of the world’s most-visited museum.

France’s Culture Minister Rachida Dati announced on X: “A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the @MuseeLouvre.

“No injuries to report. I am on site alongside the museum teams and the police. Investigations underway.”

The museum confirmed an unscheduled full-day closure “for exceptional reasons”.

Officers were later seen inspecting the giant ladder, which the thieves had driven to the scene on the back of a flat-bed truck and left propped against the historic stone walls.

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A French Forensics Officer examines the cut window and balconyCredit: Getty
 

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Highly organised criminals stole eight pieces of historic jewellery belonging to Napoleon and Joséphine
Investigators believe the robbers were possibly working on commission.

Detectives from the Banditism Repression Brigade (BRB) of the Judicial Police are leading the investigation, alongside the Central Office for Combating Trafficking in Cultural Property.

Nuñez said CCTV footage is being studied and “it’s not impossible that the perpetrators are foreigners.”

Sources believe the haul may never reach the black market.

Those behind such high-value thefts often act on the orders of wealthy collectors, meaning the pieces are likely to be hidden away and privately enjoyed by the criminal mastermind who commissioned the raid.

The stolen collection, built after Napoleon and Joséphine were crowned Emperor and Empress in 1804, is among the most opulent in French history.

Some pieces were looted from royalty during the French Revolution, while others were seized from across the Napoleonic Empire.

Shocked visitors described scenes of confusion and chaos as news of the robbery spread.

List of looted treasures

THESE are the eight “priceless” pieces of jewellery stolen in the smash-and-grab raid on the Louvre museum in Paris.

• Tiara from the set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense

• Necklace from the sapphire set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense

• Earring, from the pair belonging to the sapphire set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense

• Emerald necklace from the Empress Marie Louise set

• Pair of emerald earrings from the Empress Marie Louise set

• Brooch known as the “reliquary brooch”

• Tiara of Empress Eugenie

• Large corsage bow brooch of Empress Eugenie.

Another item – the crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie – was reportedly recovered from outside the window but broken.

One tourist told The Sun: “We got to the plaza around 10am and there were thousands of people queuing all the way around. By about 10.30 staff started telling us the Louvre was closed for the day because someone had tried to steal something inside.

“Ten minutes later more police turned up and they began evacuating everyone — it got pretty chaotic.

“People were still trying to take selfies as police pushed them out, and there were military on the scene and more than a dozen police vehicles. I even saw what looked like detectives heading inside.”

Another British visitor, 38, added: “It was very exciting being on the scene when the drama happened, like something out of The Da Vinci Code!

“Almost made up for the disappointment of not being able to go in, as we’re leaving tomorrow.

“For about half an hour there were sirens going off all around the building and nobody knew what was going on. It definitely adds a bit of drama to the holiday we can tell people about in the future!”

Police units swarmed the area as thousands of visitors were evacuated and told to stay away.

The investigation, now under way, will seek to determine how criminals breached one of the most secure cultural sites in Europe.

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Police near the pyramid of the Louvre museum after reports of a robbery
 

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A Forensics Officer examines the cut window on the balcony where the thieves broke in
 

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Forensic police officers arrive at the Louvre museum