The damage to French cultural heritage is incalculable, as the state will not be compensated for the “priceless” jewels stolen from the Louvre, as the museum, like most national institutions, has no private insurance.

The French government confirmed the items were not covered by private insurance, according to the Financial Times.

Burglars broke into the Louvre on Sunday using a lifting machine to reach the first floor, smashing display cases and grabbing eight jewels, including a diamond brooch belonging to Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie, as well as necklaces and diadems. The bandits also attempted to grab the empress’s crown, but abandoned it in their escape.

Police are investigating the burglary in hopes of recovering the stolen jewelry. However, France’s culture ministry said the country would not be compensated for the loss of the “priceless cultural and historical value” items.

“The state itself acts as an insurer when the works of national museums are in their physical storage space,” a ministry spokesman said in a statement originally published in Le Parisien, adding that this policy takes into account the high cost of insurance “when the compensation rate is low.”

Usually, responsibility for works in the national collection rests with the state, but museums take out insurance when it comes to transferring or lending exhibits between them.

The French culture ministry noted that the insurance value of works of art is “very often higher than their acquisition cost.”

Unlike state museums, private entities such as the Louis Vuitton Foundation and the Pinault Collection usually purchase private insurance coverage.

“For an institution like the Louvre, it’s almost impossible to insure its entire collection,” said Charlie Horrell, head of fine art at insurance firm Marsh.

London’s insurance market, which specializes in arts and complex international risks, has a total capacity of about $4 billion. The Louvre’s collection alone, according to market officials, would be enough to “satiate” it, as it includes priceless works from Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa to the Great Sphinx of Tanis, which are almost impossible to value.

Although France hopes to recover the jewels, there is a risk that the perpetrators will dismantle the items and sell the precious gems they contain separately.

Likewise, most of the responsibility for the restoration of Notre Dame, the medieval cathedral that burned in 2019, rested with the French state, according to Grace Best-Devereux, a specialist damage assessor at Sedgwick. However, some private contractors had secured private insurance for the restoration projects.

The renovation of the temple was eventually financed by some 340,000 private donors, with total donations reaching 840 million euros, preventing the cost from being passed on to taxpayers.