A Heist at the Louvre Museum Mirrors a Novel Plot from 1961

French media revealed an exciting development in the case of the heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris, which occurred on the morning of Sunday, October 19, as it pointed to a remarkable similarity between the method of executing the theft and a novel plot published in 1961, in which one of the characters describes how a diamond can be stolen from the most famous museum in the world "in record time."

According to preliminary investigations, the thieves managed to break into the Apollo Hall, which houses historical jewels known as the "Crown Jewels," including rare diamonds and a necklace gifted by Napoleon to his wife, Empress Marie Louise.

The operation took only seven minutes, which astonished investigators who discovered that the method used closely matched what was described in the old novel.

The museum director, Laurence de Car, confirmed before a committee in the French Senate that the weakness of the external surveillance camera system contributed to the success of the operation, as the entry point was not under sufficient surveillance.

French authorities continue to investigate the incident, amid questions about whether the perpetrators were inspired by the novel, or if one of them had a precise knowledge of the history of French detective literature.