STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Thieves who broke into the Louvre over the weekend did not make off with the Mona Lisa, as a man did more than 100 years ago, but the theft of jewels described as priceless from the museum collection was bad enough. Rebecca Rosman has more from Paris.
REBECCA ROSMAN, BYLINE: Let's start with some numbers. Four masked robbers, nine precious jewels. Seven minutes. That's how long it took to pull off the heist. No, this is not the opening scene from the latest "Oceans" movie or a new Dan Brown novel.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: (Speaking French).
ROSMAN: This is how it sounded on French radio just minutes after the Louvre opened on Sunday. Police say the thieves came prepared, using a ladder mounted to a truck to climb through a window into the Apollo Gallery. Inside, they smashed display cases, grabbed the jewels and sped off on scooters toward a nearby highway. They remain at large.
LAURENT NUNEZ: (Speaking French).
ROSMAN: This was a very experienced team that knew how to act quickly, said France's interior minister Laurent Nunez, adding the stolen items were priceless. Two pieces of jewelry, including a gold and diamond crown once worn by the wife of Napoleon III, were later found near the museum, apparently dropped as the suspects fled, according to the Paris prosecutor's office. The crown was damaged. An investigation has been opened, but people in France and around the world woke up Monday still scratching their heads.
SCOTT SELBY: It should not be that easy to simply get into a gallery of the Louvre, right?
ROSMAN: Scott Selby is a heist expert and author of "Flawless," a book about the largest diamond heist in history. He says security will face heavy scrutiny and time is critical. If police don't move fast, he says, the jewels could be dismantled for parts.
SELBY: So they may, you know, melt it down for the gold, for the silver, pry apart the jewels, try to see what they can do with it.
ROSMAN: Bigger questions remain. Who were these well-trained thieves? Why did they act in broad daylight?
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: (Speaking French).
ROSMAN: And why, a reporter on French television BFMTV asked, did they not touch the most valuable item in the gallery - the Regent Diamond? I have no explanation, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau responded.
LAURE BECCUAU: (Speaking French).
ROSMAN: That's a question we can only know the answer to once the suspects are in custody. Rebecca Rosman, NPR News, Paris. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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