Two men arrested over Louvre museum jewel heist
Two men have been arrested in connection with the theft of precious jewels from the Louvre museum in Paris, French media is reporting.
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Last Sunday, a group of masked thieves broke into the museum and plucked jewels worth €88m (£77m) from the Gallery of Apollo.
They used a mechanical ladder on the back of a lorry to gain entry to the gallery.
A total of eight objects were stolen, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amelie and Hortense.
They also took an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte's second wife, as well as a reliquary brooch. Empress Eugenie's diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch - an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship - were also part of the loot.
One piece - Eugenie's emerald-set imperial crown with more than 1,300 diamonds - was later found outside the museum, damaged but recoverable.
After the daring heist, the suspects jumped onto motor scooters to escape through the narrow streets of Paris.
The men in their 30s were originally from the Parisian suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, and one was preparing to board a flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport, according to Le Parisien.
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The museum's director called the incident a "terrible failure".
Ms Beccuau said investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and art thefts made the arrests.
She said in her statement the premature leak of information, saying it could hinder the work of more than 100 investigators "mobilised to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators".
The prosecutor added that further details will be released when the suspects' custody period ends.
French interior minister Laurent Nunez praised "the investigators who have worked tirelessly, just as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence".