14 DAY TRIAL // This past weekend, somebody managed to break into the Palace of Fontainebleau in France and stole several centuries-old artifacts, among which a replica crown of the King of Siam received as a gift by Emperor Napoleon III in 1861.
Reports say that whoever it was that organized and pulled off this heist managed to do away with as many as 15 artifacts. Apart from the crown, a photo of which is available below, they took gold and bronze figurines.
The crown was the main target
The value of the artifacts taken from the Palace of Fontainebleau has not yet been revealed. When asked, museum officials simply said that the artworks were all unique and priceless.
The crown alone must be worth a whole lot of money, seeing how it is made of gold and decorated with precious stones and pearls. Hence, it's safe to assume that this artifact was the one that the thieves were chiefly after.
How the heist played out
Information shared with the public by the police officers investigating this case says that the robbers broke into the Palace of Fontainebleau early Sunday morning, around 6 o'clock. They spent just 7 minutes inside the castle.
During this time, they found the art pieces they had come looking for, took them and then simply left. The items were all taken from the castle's Chinese wing, which hosts artifacts collected by the Empress Eugenie, Napoleon III’s wife.
Mind you, the Palace of Fontainebleau is protected by an alarm system which went off as expected of it when the thieves entered the building. However, by the time the police arrived at the scene, the robbers had already left, Live Science informs.
An investigation is ongoing and authorities hope that they will eventually identify the perpetrators and recover the stolen artifacts. Then again, it must be said that, of 15 other artworks that were stolen from the same castle in 1995, just 9 have until now been found.
Fontainebleau is a World Heritage Site
The Palace of Fontainebleau, located at a distance of just 55 kilometers (34 miles) southeast of the center of Paris, served as a royal residence for centuries, since the time of Louis VII until Napoleon III.
Today, it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and open to visitors. Thus, people are allowed to explore its gardens, its chapels and even its galleries. Chances are that, before having pulled this robbery, the thieves had visited it a few times themselves.
