Authorities were racing Monday to reassure the public about security at key cultural sites — and find the jewels stolen from the museum before they can be broken up and melted down.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday denounced the spectacular theft of jewellery from the Louvre Museum in Paris as an attack on France's cultural history. "The theft from the Louvre is an attack on a cultural asset that we value because it is part of our history,

According to The Los Angeles Times, the heist took four minutes. The robbers "smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels," the Times reported, adding that some of the jewelry stolen belongs to the collection of "French crown jewels."

Crime gangs around Europe are increasingly robbing valuable jewels and gold from cash-needy museums like the Louvre, but while law enforcement often catches the thieves, they struggle to recover the priceless goods,

Five years after the death of French history and geography teacher Samuel Paty, beheaded by a Chechen Islamist, "the shock is still raw", according to Paty's sister. The sentiments of pain and fear are shared by many teachers across France,