Louvre Museum theft: Valuables secretly transferred to Bank of France

Some of the Louvre Museum's most valuable jewels have been transferred to the Bank of France after the daring jewel heist. French radio RTL reported that some of the jewels from the Apollo Gallery were secretly sent to the bank under police guard on Friday (October 24).

The Bank of France is located just 500 meters from the Louvre and stores valuables such as the country's gold reserves. The bank's underground vault is located 27 meters below the surface.

Earlier, on October 19, a group of thieves stole eight precious jewels worth about $102 million from the Louvre Museum's collection. They used a crane to break into the museum while it was open to visitors and broke through an upper-floor window. They escaped on a motorbike with some of the valuable jewels in just seven minutes.

The Louvre Museum holds the record for the most visitors in world history. Last week's sensational theft has sparked a global debate about the security lapses at the historic museum.

The news of the robbery has caused a stir around the world. Many French citizens have even said they see the incident as a national insult.