PARIS: In a minutes-long strike Sunday inside the world’s most-visited museum, thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre‘s facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officials said. The daylight heist about 30 minutes after opening, with visitors already inside, was among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory and comes as staff complained that crowding and thin staffing are straining security.

Several criminals are believed to have stolen jewelry before fleeing the scene, according to a source cited by Agence France-Presse. No injuries have been reported.

Thieves entered the Louvre using a basket lift on Sunday and made away with priceless jewels, France's interior minister said, as the museum closed for the day.