The Louvre Museum in Paris is still closed on Monday while police investigate a brazen heist that targeted France’s priceless crown jewels.
Thieves wielding power tools broke into the world’s most visited museum in broad daylight before escaping on scooters with eight extremely valuable items of jewellery.
Here is what we know about the crime, which has stunned France.
The robbery happened on Sunday between 09:30 and 09:40 local time (08:30 and 08:40 BST), shortly after the museum opened to visitors.
Four thieves used a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the Galerie d’Apollon (Gallery of Apollo) via a balcony close to the River Seine.
Pictures from the scene showed a vehicle-mounted ladder leading up to a first-floor window.
Two of the thieves cut through glass panes with a battery-powered disc cutter and entered the museum.
They then threatened the guards, who evacuated the premises, and stole items from two glass display cases.
A preliminary report has revealed that one in three rooms in the area of the museum raided had no CCTV cameras, according to French media.
This is a “very painful” episode for France, said Natalie Goulet, a member of the French Senate’s finance committee.
“We are all disappointed and angry,” she said, and it is “difficult to understand how it happened so easily.”
Goulet told the BBC the gallery’s localised alarm was recently broken, and “we have to wait for the investigation to know if the alarm was deactivated.”
France’s culture ministry said the museum’s wider alarms did sound, and staff followed protocol by contacting security forces and protecting visitors.
The gang had tried to set fire to their vehicle outside but were prevented by the intervention of a museum staff member, the culture ministry added.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati told French news outlet TF1 that footage of the theft showed the masked robbers entering “calmly” and smashing display cases containing the jewels. No one was injured in the incident.
She described the thieves as seemingly being “experienced” with a well-prepared plan to flee on two scooters.
Around 60 investigators are working on the case, and prosecutors said their theory is that the robbers were under orders from a criminal organisation.
The search is on for four suspects, and investigators are studying CCTV footage from the escape route.
One witness described scenes of “total panic” as the museum was evacuated. Later images showed entrances closed off with metal gates.
What jewels were stolen?
According to the authorities, eight items were taken, including diadems (a jewelled headband), necklaces, earrings, and brooches. All are from the 19th century and once belonged to French royalty or imperial rulers.
France’s Ministry of Culture said the stolen items were:
- A tiara and brooch belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III
- An emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings from Empress Marie Louise
- A tiara, necklace and single earring from the sapphire set that belonged to Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense
- A brooch known as the “reliquary brooch”
Between them, these pieces are adorned with thousands of diamonds and other precious gemstones.
Two more items, including Empress Eugénie’s crown, were found near the scene, apparently having been dropped during the escape. The authorities are examining them for damage.
Nuñez described the stolen jewels as “priceless” and “of immeasurable heritage value.”
“There is a race going on right now,” Chris Marinello, the chief executive of Art Recovery International, said.
Crowns and diadems can easily be broken apart and sold in small parts.
The thieves “are not going to keep them intact; they are going to break them up, melt down the valuable metal, recut the valuable stones and hide evidence of their crime,” Marinello said.
It would be difficult to sell these jewels intact, he said.
Earlier this year, officials at the Louvre requested help from the French government to restore and renovate the museum’s ageing exhibition halls and better protect its works of art.
At the time, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged the Louvre would be redesigned as part of the New Renaissance project—expected to cost between €700 million and €800 million (£608m – £695m; $816m – $933m). The project includes reinforced security.
When will the louvre reopen?
The Louvre remains closed on Monday while investigations into the robbery continue.
In a message on its website, the museum said visitors who had already booked tickets would be automatically refunded.
Police and security personnel could be seen around the site’s famous glass pyramid entrance on Monday. Metal barriers have also been put up.
No information has been given about when the museum may reopen to the public.
The Louvre is always closed on Tuesdays, so the earliest it could reopen this week would be Wednesday.
What are people saying about the robbery?
The theft has caused a political outcry in France, with Macron calling the raid “an attack on our history,” National Rally leader Jordan Bardella saying it was an “intolerable humiliation,” and Marine Le Pen of Front Nationale calling it a “wound to the French soul.”
Have similar thefts happened before?
In 1911, an Italian museum employee was able to make off with the Mona Lisa under his coat after lifting the painting, which was then little-known to the public, straight off the wall of a quiet gallery.
It was recovered after two years, and the culprit later said he was motivated by the belief that the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece belonged in Italy.
Fewer chances are taken with the Mona Lisa these days: the painting, perhaps the most renowned in the museum’s collection, hangs in a high-security glass compartment.
In 1998, Le Chemin de Sevres—a 19th-century painting by Camille Corot—was stolen and has never been found. The incident prompted a massive overhaul of museum security.
There has been a recent spate of thefts targeting French museums.
Last month, thieves broke into the Adrien Dubouche Museum in Limoges and stole porcelain works reputedly worth €9.5m ($11m / £8.25m).
In November 2024, seven items of “great historic and heritage value” were stolen from the Cognacq-Jay Museum in the capital. Five were recovered a few days ago.
The same month, armed robbers raided the Hieron Museum in Burgundy, firing shots before escaping with millions of pounds worth of 20th-century artworks.
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