Thieves armed with power tools staged a brazen break-in at the Louvre Museum on Monday morning, smashing display cases in the opulent Galerie d'Apollon to steal eight historic pieces of French royal jewelry before fleeing on scooters in under four minutes, leaving investigators scrambling and the world's most visited art hub shuttered for the day.

The gang struck shortly after opening at 9:30 a.m., using a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to scale a balcony overlooking the River Seine and access a first-floor window, according to French police. Two intruders cut through the pane, threatened guards who evacuated visitors, and targeted two cases housing 19th-century treasures once worn by empresses and queens.

The haul includes Empress Eugénie's pearl-and-diamond tiara and brooch, an emerald necklace and earrings from Empress Marie Louise, a sapphire tiara, necklace and earring set belonging to Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense, and a "reliquary brooch"—all adorned with thousands of gems worth millions, though officials called them "priceless" for their heritage value.

One item, Eugénie's crown, turned up damaged nearby, dropped in the getaway, but the rest vanished with the four masked suspects. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the heist as the work of "experienced" pros, with prosecutors probing links to organized crime. Culture Minister Rachida Dati, viewing footage, noted the robbers' "calm" entry and exit at 9:38 a.m., after dousing their lift in a failed arson bid thwarted by a staffer.

The museum, drawing 9 million visitors yearly, stayed closed Monday for forensics, auto-refunding tickets via its site. Barriers ringed the iconic glass pyramid, and 60 investigators pored over CCTV—spotty in the zone, with one in three rooms uncovered, per a preliminary probe.

Senate finance committee member Natalie Goulet decried the lapse: "A very painful episode... difficult to understand how it happened so easily." She flagged a recently broken localized alarm, pending inquiry.

President Emmanuel Macron labeled it "an attack on our history," while far-right leaders Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen decried "intolerable humiliation" and a "wound to the French soul."

The theft, amid Macron's €700-800 million "New Renaissance" revamp for better safeguards, echoes 1911's Mona Lisa snatch and recent French museum hits, like Limoges' €9.5 million porcelain raid last month.