• Masked gang stole jewellery worth nearly €4 million from the Lalique museum.
• The burglary took place around 5:30 am on Sunday, July 5.
• The stolen items were reportedly crystal, without precious gems.
• The museum will remain closed for several days due to the incident.
• The mayor criticized security failures, stating alarms went off but no quick response was made.

A gang of masked thieves stole millions of euros worth of jewellery in a daring early-morning raid at the Lalique museum in Wingen-sur-Moder, northeastern France. The heist occurred around 5:30 am on July 5, with thieves forcing a door and targeting the jewellery room, where they smashed open six display cases. The estimated value of the stolen pieces is close to €4 million, primarily comprising crystal items without precious gems that cannot be melted down, according to SCMP, India Times, Le Monde, and CBS News.

The museum is now closed for several days while investigations continue, and CCTV footage is being reviewed. "An alarm went off, but by the time the security company completed its checks, it was a cleaning lady who arrived first and called the police," detailed a source close to the investigation. This incident has drawn attention amid recent security concerns regarding thefts at French cultural institutions, especially following a dramatic robbery at the Louvre last year, as highlighted by SCMP and India Times.

Christian Dorschner, the mayor of Wingen-sur-Moder, expressed his anger regarding the security failure, saying, "All the alarms went off, just as they should. There was a major failure on their part: they didn't intervene right away, they didn't inform the gendarmes." He emphasized that the thieves appeared to be well-informed, indicating premeditated planning behind the crime, according to Le Monde and CBS News.