The robbery at the Louvre has done what no marketing campaign ever could: It has catapulted France’s dusty crown jewels — long admired at home,

The recent security breach at the Louvre, where thieves raided the Galerie d’Apollon and stole jewels once belonging to France’s imperial dynasties, is more than a museum scandal. It is a metaphor for a nation unable to protect what it claims to hold sacred.

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.

It took thieves less than eight minutes to steal the jewels valued at 88 million euros (£77.5 million) from the world’s most visited museum.