The Louvre confirmed in a statement that the nine pieces of jewelry had “inestimable heritage and historical value.”

In what could be the first major break in the investigation of the $102 million jewel heist at the Louvre Museum, police have found traces of DNA on items the thieves left behind in their hasty getaway,

The Louvre reopened Wednesday morning, three days after thieves forced open a window and stole French crown jewels in a daring, daylight raid on the musuem.

Laurence des Cars, the head of the Louvre, is expected to be grilled by French senators about the robbery at a hearing later on Wednesday.

French police have gathered more than 150 DNA samples and fingerprints in the hunt for the thieves behind a daring daylight raid on the Louvre that saw eight royal jewels worth €88 million stolen.

“You don’t even have to put them on a black market, you just put them in a jewelry store,” said Erin Thompson, an art crime professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.