🌅 An “Extremely Professional” Gold Heist in Paris

SOURCE

French National Museum of Natural History

WHAT TO KNOW

• Thieves used an angle grinder and blowtorch to steal a number of rare gold samples from the French National Museum of Natural History on September 16. Museum officials described the early morning heist as “extremely professional” and clearly targeted at the samples. The theft is the latest in a string of heists targeting French museums in the past year, including an $11 million theft of rare porcelain from the Adrien Dubouché National Museum in Limoges earlier this month.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The stolen specimens are examples of what’s known as native gold, meaning the gold was discovered in its natural state without smelting or chemical separation. Native gold is extremely rare and prized for its beauty and shape. The samples stolen this week are worth around $700,000, though experts say they carry immeasurable scientific, artistic, and historical value.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Paris is no stranger to high-profile art heists. In 1911, a trio of Italian handymen hid in the Louvre overnight to steal the city’s most famous painting, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The theft sparked a massive search—famous painter Pablo Picasso was even questioned by police at one point—and catapulted the painting to international fame. It was eventually returned to the museum in 1914.