Museum heists, particularly ones involving historic and valuable items, have shocked the world and inspired mystery and suspicion for more than a century.

Museum security concerns rise after the latest Louvre robbery, as experts recall other major art thefts, including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's still-unsolved heist from 1990.

Sunday’s robbery at the Paris museum could be the latest example of thieves targeting museums for jewels and precious metals to break down and sell on.

The theft that occurred at the Louvre Museum in Paris over the weekend is "damn close" to most expense museum theft in history, according to one of the most famous art thieves in the world. Myles Connor walked into the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and walked out with a Rembrandt painting in the 1980s.

The Louvre museum was hit by a brazen daytime jewel heist, forcing the Paris institution to close its doors for a second day in a row.

What we know about the Louvre jewel heist, plus a look at thefts from museums in the Philly area over the years.

On Sunday, art thieves entered the Apollo Gallery at the Louvre in Paris and left with eight items of jewelry said to be of “incalculable” worth. Among them: a crown worn by Empress Eugénie, set with 212 pearls and nearly 3,000 diamonds.

Intruders entered via a basket lift using a platform mounted on a lorry, breaking a window and making off with jewels that "have genuine heritage value and are, in fact, priceless," France's interior minister said.