An image of a man wearing a fedora hat standing near police officers outside the Louvre in Paris has caught the imagination of people online, wondering if he is a detective involved in investigating the recent heist at the famous Parisian museum.

French photojournalist Thibault Camus, who has worked for The Associated Press in Paris for 18 years, took the image but knows nothing about the man featured in it.

“Maybe he's a tourist, maybe he's just a Parisian who who planned to go to the Louvre this morning but I really don't know who is he but I think it's kind of dandy so, I don't know maybe, he can be a tourist, I don't know," Camus told The Associated Press in a video interview.

"I decided to take this photo because the guy is really well dressed, dressed as an old fashioned guy, you know, and I decided to take this photo because I think he sticks to the idea that I have of the museum," he added.

Police have been near the area due to the robbery last Sunday, which made global headlines, but Camus didn't feel that this person was involved with them.

The image was reported on by The Times of India, The New York Times and The Washington Post.