Cazeneuve's apartment was targeted at the beginning of the week, a source in his entourage told AFP news agency.

But the aide insisted the evidence suggests  those who carried out the crime had no idea whose apartment they were in.

“Everything indicates that those who broke in did not know the flat belonged to the prime minister,” the source told AFP, confirming a report in Closer magazine.

The source also insisted “there were no documents relating to his role as Prime Minister in the flat at the time.”

Cazeneuve was formerly France's so-called 'top cop' during his time as interior minister in which he was tasked with fighting crime.

He then became Prime Minster when Manuel Valls stepped down to launch his failed campaign to be president.

A few months ago he told police he did not want officers permanently stationed outside his apartment given the strain on police resources caused by the ongoing terror threat.

However, since the burglary, security measures have been stepped up.

The fact Cazeneuve's Paris flat was burgled might come as a surprise to his security staff but probably not to anyone living in Paris where burglaries are a regular occurrence.

Statistics published in 2014 revealed there were 40 break-ins a day in the French capital, a steep rise on the previous year.

The interior ministry linked the hike in burglaries to organised crime gangs from eastern Europe.