Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced Tuesday evening that the damages resulting from the spectacular jewelry theft at the Louvre on Sunday had been estimated by the museum's curator at €88 million, for the financial aspect alone.

"The damage was estimated by the Louvre curator at 88 million euros," an "extremely spectacular" sum, but one which "has nothing parallel or comparable to the historical damage," the prosecutor added on RTL, specifying that the criminals "will not earn" this sum "if they had the very bad idea of melting down these jewels."

"Perhaps we can hope that they think about it and do not destroy these jewels for no reason," added the prosecutor.

The magistrate indicated that she was "looking forward to finding out whether, in police jargon, the fingerprints found "will match or not": "They are currently being analyzed."

The criminals left behind two angle grinders, a blowtorch, gasoline, gloves, a walkie-talkie, a blanket, as well as Empress Eugenie's crown and a yellow vest, police sources told AFP. A helmet was also found at the scene, AFP learned Tuesday from a source close to the case, confirming a report from Le Parisien.

Ms. Beccuau confirmed the figure of "four people identified as being present at the scene," while opening the door to the possibility that "around them" there were "a whole bunch of teams" who "helped them to carry out this theft."

Asked about the existence of possible internal collusion within the world's most visited museum, Ms. Beccuau replied that she could not "answer yes or no" at this stage.

The prosecutor also indicated that the aerial platform used to commit the theft was obtained by the criminals via "a pseudo-rental during a supposed move."

"When one of the company's employees arrived at the moving location, he was confronted by two men who were threatening but who did not use any violence against him," added Ms. Beccuau, referring to the filing of a complaint.

According to her, in addition to the magistrates of the Interregional Specialized Jurisdiction (Jirs) of the Paris prosecutor's office who are leading the investigations, "around a hundred" investigators are mobilized in Paris on this case.

In the heart of the capital, the Louvre was burglarized on Sunday, and authorities have since been on the trail of four criminals who made off with eight "French crown jewels," a spectacular theft that raises questions about the security of the world's most famous museum.

This theft, images of which were seen around the world, sparked a political controversy and rekindled the debate on the security of French museums.