Paris' Louvre museum reopens following jewelry heist

The financial loss from France’s most dramatic heist in decades has been put at nearly €90m.

The Louvre museum in Paris reopened on Wednesday, three days after thieves made off with historic royal jeweler worth an estimated 88 million euros ($102 million).

Live images on Reuters TV showed visitors walking through the museum's entry gates for the first time since the brash heist, which made headlines worldwide.

The financial loss from France’s most dramatic heist in decades has been put at nearly €90m as the head of the Louvre prepared to face difficult questions over how thieves were able to steal priceless jewellery in broad daylight.

As police continued to search for the criminal gang behind the brazen robbery on Sunday, the Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told the broadcaster RTL that the museum’s curator had estimated the losses at about €88m (£76m).

Louvre Museum heist

A gang of four thieves forced their way into the Louvre’s Apollo gallery shortly after the museum opened on Sunday morning, using a ladder from a furniture hoist on the street below and making off with eight pieces of Napoleonic jewellery.

Thieves wielding power tools took less than eight minutes to make off with the loot shortly after the world's most-visited museum opened.

The items taken include a diamond and emerald necklace Emperor Napoleon gave to his wife, a tiara worn by Empress Eugenie, the wife of Napoleon III, and several pieces previously owned by Queen Marie-Amelie.

Investigators found a damaged crown that used to belong to Empress Eugenie on the thieves' escape route - apparently having been dropped as they departed in haste.