Masked burglars broke into the Lalique museum in Wingen-sur-Moder, north-eastern France, before dawn on Sunday and made off with around twenty pieces of crystal jewellery, in a raid that investigators provisionally assess caused a loss approaching four million euros.

The intruders forced an entrance around 5.30 a.m. local time, headed directly to the jewellery room, and smashed six display cases, said a source close to the inquiry. An alarm was triggered, but by the time the security firm completed its checks, a cleaner arriving at the site had discovered the break-in and called the gendarmerie. The stolen items, described as crystal without precious stones, cannot be melted down. The museum announced on social media that it would close for several days to allow for “a calm and secure reopening”. The mayor of the town, Christian Dorschner, expressed anger in the regional press at the security company’s failure to alert police immediately.

The incident comes less than a year after a spectacular daylight heist at the Louvre in Paris, which stripped the museum of crown jewels valued at over $100 million. In the wake of that robbery, the Lalique museum—designated a “sensitive site”—was subject to heightened vigilance, but a source familiar with the investigation told news agencies that existing protective measures were “not sufficient”. Later in 2025, other French museums were also targeted, including the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and a porcelain museum in Limoges.

Investigators are examining CCTV footage and have described the thieves as apparently well informed, though no arrests have yet been made. The criminal-investigation unit of the Bas-Rhin gendarmerie is leading the inquiry.