French police are hunting for burglars who tied up the owner’s of one France’s renowned chateaux overnight and made off with 2 million euros- worth of valuables, reports The Telegraph.
Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte, a 17th-century castle in Maincy, southeast of Paris, served as a model for Versailles and the backdrop for a string of film and TV productions, including the James Bond classic, Moonraker, and Sophie Coppola's Marie Antoinette.
A group of six masked criminals broke into the private apartment of owners Patrice and Cristina de Vogue, aged 78 and 90 respectively, in the early hours of Thursday.
The robbers bagged cash and valuables, including emeralds from a safe.
Police sources said the owners were unharmed and declined to be examined by a doctor. “The couple are doing well and the chateau remains open to visitors at the normal times,” management told AFP.
The De Vogue’s opened the estate to the public in 1968 and run it with their three sons. It has been in the hands of four successive families since the 17th century.
Vaux-le-Vicomte is the largest privately-owned heritage site in France, with grounds surpassing 500 hectares (1,200 acres), and welcomes 250,000 visitors per year. It is surrounded by a 13kilometre-long (eight-mile) protective wall and comprises many fountains and statues, including one covered by 10,000 gilded leaves.