Hours after thieves launched a brazen heist at the Louvre in Paris, another French museum was ransacked.
Authorities say a group of robbers stole 2,000 silver and gold coins worth more than $100,000 from the Maison des Lumières, the House Of Enlightenment, on the night of Sunday, Oct. 19.
When the facility opened the following morning, a security guard came upon a smashed display case and realized the coins had been stolen, French media outlets reported.
Local officials said the culprits broke into the Hôtel du Breuil-de-Saint-Germain, which houses the small museum, and forced their way into the building before making off with the historical coins.
The local prefecture in Langres said in a public statement that the robbery was conducted with “great expertise and precision,” suggesting a targeted operation. No arrests have been made, and authorities have not publicly identified any suspects.
The heist was largely overshadowed by the brazen theft of $102 million worth of jewelry from the Louvre hours earlier. It’s unclear if the two heists were related.
Masked thieves rob the Louvre in broad daylight
Shortly after the Louvre opened on Oct. 19, thieves disguised as construction workers climbed a ladder and entered the Gallery of Apollo through a window. Once inside, they smashed a display case and grabbed eight French crown jewels as alarms blared, and panicked tourists fled the building.
Four suspects fled on motorbikes and remain at large, officials said. All told, the robbery unfolded in less than 10 minutes.
Among the stolen items was an emerald necklace from the family of Napoleon Bonaparte and a sapphire tiarra once owned by 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense.
The raid shocked the nation and spurred questions about how one of the world’s most renowned museums could be robbed in broad daylight.
It also comes after a string of thefts targeting other cultural institutions in France.
In August, six gold nuggets worth $1.75 million were stolen from the Museum of Natural History in Paris. French prosecutors said they arrested a Chinese-born woman in Barcelona while she was trying to dispose of some melted gold.
Contributing: N’dea Yancey-Bragg and Thao Nguyen
