Burglars grab jewellery in lightning raid on France's Lalique museum

PARIS, July 6 - Burglars grabbed jewellery in a lightning raid on a French museum holding works by luxury glassmaker Rene Lalique and his family, staff there said, less than a year after a heist at the Louvre in Paris shocked the nation.

The masked thieves smashed through the door at Musee Lalique in the eastern Alsace region and took around 20 pieces, together worth several millions of euros, on Sunday morning, France Info and other media said.

The jewellery was taken "in a very short space of time," the museum said on Instagram. The burglars set off security systems, staff had identified the missing pieces and police were studying CCTV footage as they launched a search, it added.

It did not go into greater detail on what was stolen.

The museum in the town of Wingen-sur-Moder, 60 km (40 miles) northwest of Strasbourg, houses more than 650 pieces, according to its website, including Art Nouveau jewellery, Art Deco glass and crystal.

Rene Lalique, who died aged 85 in 1945, began his career as a jeweller and was known for using "glass, enamel, horn, ivory and semi-precious stones in his creations," the website added.

"The museum will be closed for the forthcoming days in order to make sure it can then be re-opened with full security," it added.

Thieves broke into Paris' world-famous Louvre museum last October. Several suspects have been arrested but the priceless exhibits have not been recovered. REUTERS