A chainsaw-wielding gang has stormed the Louvre and stolen priceless Napoleon-era jewellery worth millions in a brazen seven-minute raid.

The smash-and-grab heist saw “highly organised” thieves scale the side of the world-famous museum using a ladder mounted on a flat-bed truck before cutting through a window with a disc cutter.

The trio struck in broad daylight soon after 9am on Sunday, breaking into a gallery that houses some of France’s most precious treasures and escaping with nine glittering pieces from the Napoleon and Empress Joséphine collection.