Armed robbers broke into a central Paris Apple store on New Year's Eve, making off with roughly $1.25 million worth of iPhone, iPads, and other devices, according to reports.

It was the first major robbery of an Apple store in France. The theft occurred at the Apple store behind the Paris Opera at about 9 p.m. local time, three hours after the store had closed for the day, The Wall Street Journal reported. Four masked men forced their way in through a service entrance, violently intimidating employees who were in the store at the time.

The robbers then went through boxes of Apple products in the basement storeroom, seeking mobile devices and laptops, Christophe Crepin, spokesman for the national police trade union UNSA Police, told CNN. Merchandise on display in the front of the store was left untouched.

"They knew exactly what they were taking," Crepin said, according to the CNN report.

The robbers then loaded the stolen goods into a nearby Mercedes van and left the scene. Apple managers are still working to confirm the value of the stolen merchandise.

The robbery comes as police in New York warned that the theft of Apple products is way up. The New York Police Department in late September said it logged 11,447 thefts of Apple products between Jan. 1 and Sept. 23, a 40 percent jump from last year. In November, thieves stole $1.5 million worth of Apple iPad minis from JFK Airport.

Meanwhile, a rash of burglaries and robberies at Apple stores in the eastern United States in 2011 prompted the FBI to get involved. The agency assisted in the investigations of more than a dozen Apple store burglary and smash-and-grab robbery cases from Connecticut to Virginia.

For a look at Apple's iconic retail stores around the world, see the slideshow above.

For more from Angela, follow her on Twitter @amoscaritolo.

Further Reading

Mobile Phone Reviews