Thieves carjacked the furniture lift used to break into the Louvre for the smash-and-grab raid nine days before the crown jewel heist.

German businessman Alexander Böcker was reading the news with his wife when she told him about a robbery at the Louvre in Paris. They soon saw an opportunity.

From brands and influencers to a viral "Inspector Clouseau," the world's most glamorous theft is also quickly becoming one of the year's most profitable memes.

PARIS -- PARIS (AP) — The glittering sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds that once adorned France's royals could well be gone forever, experts say after a brazen, four-minute heist in broad daylight left the nation stunned and the government struggling to explain a new debacle at the Louvre.

"They seem to have done a pretty good job at getting away with it," the actor said of the Parisian jewel thieves.

It took seven minutes for thieves to execute a brazen daylight heist at the famed Louvre museum. Here's how they did it

The masked gang, who remain at large, made off with nine items, including a crown, a tiara, necklaces and earrings.

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