Elaine Sciolino, former Paris bureau chief of the The New York Times, discusses the painful irony at the heart of Sunday’s grand theft.

BERLIN (AP) — Forget France: The Louvre Museum jewelry heist was a classic case of German efficiency. Photos of a German-made freight lift that the thieves used in a lightning-fast daylight heist at the Louvre have gone viral. And its manufacturer is now riding high from the unexpected endorsement.

"If you're in a hurry," read the caption on the post next to a photo of the company's lift propped outside the Louvre.

The French crown jewels robbed from the Louvre museum in Paris are likely lost forever, an art crime expert tells CBS News, even if the thieves are caught.

The precious artifacts snatched from Paris’s Louvre Museum on Sunday include an emerald necklace gifted by Napoleon to his second wife and other priceless crown jewels.

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.

Hours after the ‘heist of the century’ unfolded at the Louvre Museum on Sunday, another museum in northeastern France was robbed. The theft took place at the Maison des Lumières (House of Enlightenment) in Langres,

French investigators are analysing dozens of DNA samples and fingerprints after this weekend's daylight jewel theft from the Louvre museum, a prosecutor said Thursday.Up to "150 DNA samples, fingerprints and other traces" have been identified,

Experts say France's royal jewels may be gone forever after a daring heist at the Louvre. On Sunday, thieves stole eight pieces, including crowns and necklaces, in just four minutes.

A prosecutor in France has said the financial loss from a robbery at the Louvre museum is estimated at €88 million.