Power Tool-wielding Robbers Flee Louvre With 'Priceless' Jewellery

Tourists stroll near the Louvre Pyramid, designed by Chinese-US architect Ieoh Ming Pei, at the entrance to the world-renowned Paris museum, which said it was shutting its doors after a break-in (Credit: AFP)

Robbers wielding power tools scaled a furniture hoist outside the Louvre to make off with priceless jewellery from the world-renowned museum on Sunday, taking just seven minutes for the brazen, broad-daylight heist, sources and officials said.

The theft -- just the latest to have targeted a French institution in recent months -- saw the museum, the world's most visited and filled with treasures including the Mona Lisa, shut its doors for the day to the busy weekend crowds.