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Law enforcement in France are urgently trying to recover priceless treasures taken from the Louvre in a daring broad daylight theft, yet authorities caution it may already be past the point of recovery to recover them.

In Paris over the weekend, burglars entered by force the most popular museum globally, stealing eight precious artifacts before escaping via motor scooters in a audacious theft that was completed in just minutes.

Expert art detective Arthur Brand told the BBC he suspects the stolen items could be "dispersed", after being taken apart into many fragments.

There is a strong chance the pieces could be sold off for a small part of their true price and taken out of French territory, several authorities indicated.

Possible Culprits Behind the Heist

The perpetrators are experienced criminals, as the detective stated, evidenced by the fact they were through the museum of the museum in record time.

"Realistically speaking, for regular people, one doesn't just get up in the morning thinking, I should become a criminal, choosing as first target the Louvre Museum," he said.

"This won't be their initial robbery," he continued. "They've committed previous crimes. They are confident and they thought, we could succeed with this, and took the chance."

Additionally demonstrating the skill of the gang is treated as important, a dedicated task force with a "high success rate in cracking high-profile robberies" has been tasked with finding them.

Police officials have indicated they believe the theft is connected to an organised crime network.

Sophisticated gangs like these usually pursue two main goals, legal official Laure Beccuau explained. "Either to act on behalf of a sponsor, or to secure expensive jewelry to perform financial crimes."

Mr Brand thinks it would be highly unlikely to dispose of the artifacts as complete pieces, and he noted stealing-to-order for a specific client is something that mainly exists in fictional stories.

"Nobody wants to acquire an artifact so hot," he explained. "It cannot be shown to your friends, it cannot be passed to heirs, you cannot sell it."

Potential £10m Price Tag

Mr Brand believes the stolen items will be dismantled and separated, along with gold elements and precious metals liquefied and the jewels cut up into smaller components that could be extremely difficult to trace back to the Paris heist.

Historical jewelry specialist a renowned expert, who presents the digital series focusing on gemstones and previously served as the famous fashion magazine's jewellery editor for 20 years, explained the perpetrators had "specifically chosen" the most important treasures from the Louvre's collection.

The "magnificent exquisite jewels" will probably be dug out from the jewelry pieces and marketed, she said, except for the crown from Empress Eugénie which has smaller stones mounted in it and was "too hot to handle," she added.

This potentially clarifies why they left it behind as they got away, along with one other item, and found by authorities.

The imperial headpiece that disappeared, has rare authentic pearls which have a very large value, authorities indicate.

While the items are regarded as being priceless, the expert anticipates they will be disposed of for a small percentage of their value.

"They'll likely end up to buyers who are prepared to take possession," she explained. "Everyone will be looking for the stolen goods – they'll settle for whatever price is offered."

How much exactly could they fetch financially upon being marketed? When asked about the potential value of the stolen goods, the expert stated the cut-up parts might value "several million."

The precious stones and taken gold might achieve as much as £10 million (millions in euros; $13.4m), says an industry expert, chief executive of a prominent jeweler, an online jeweller.

The expert explained the thieves must have an experienced professional to extract the stones, and a skilled stone worker to change the more noticeable pieces.

Smaller stones that were not easily identifiable could be sold immediately and while it was hard to estimate the precise value of all the stones removed, the more significant gems could be worth approximately £500,000 per stone, he explained.

"Reports indicate a minimum of four comparable in size, so adding all of those along with the gold, you are probably approaching ten million," he stated.

"The gemstone and gemstone market is active and plenty of customers operate on the fringes that don't ask too many questions."

There are hopes that the stolen goods may be found undamaged in the future – although such expectations are narrowing as the days pass.

There is a precedent – the Cartier exhibition at the V&A Museum features a piece of jewelry stolen in 1948 which eventually returned in a sale much later.

What is certain are numerous French citizens are deeply shocked by the Louvre heist, demonstrating an emotional attachment with the artifacts.

"We don't necessarily like jewellery as it symbolizes a matter concerning authority, and which doesn't always receive favorable interpretation in France," a heritage expert, curatorial leader at established French company the historical business, said