Images from the scene showed confused tourists being steered out of the glass pyramid and adjoining courtyards as officers closed nearby streets along the Seine

In a minutes-long strike Sunday inside the world's most-visited museum, thieves rode a basket lift to the Louvre, forced a window into the Galerie d'Apollon , while tourists pressed shoulder-to-shoulder in the corridors, smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officials said.

It was among the highest-profile museum thefts in recent memory and comes as Louvre employees have complained of worker and security understaffing. Read More

One object was later found outside the museum, according to Culture Minister Rachida Dati. French daily Le Parisien reported it was the emerald-studded crown of Napoleon I

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