Crown jewels stolen in audacious daylight robbery at Louvre museum

Louvre heist: The thieves used a grinder to cut through display cases, helping themselves to precious jewellery before making their escape on motorbikes

In what has been described as one of the most audacious thefts ever to take place at the Louvre, the museum that holds France’s most treasured art collections, thieves made off with priceless royal jewellery in a daylight robbery. French politicians expressed outrage over the loss, demanding explanations as to how such an incident could occur at the world’s most renowned museum at 9:30 am on a Sunday morning.

 

“It seems like a scenario out of a film or a television series,” said Ariel Weil, the mayor of central Paris, where the Louvre is located.

 

How the heist unfolded

 

 

The doors of Paris’s Louvre Museum had been open to the public for just 30 minutes when two burglars were lifted onto a second-floor balcony on the building’s south side.

 

With their faces hidden, the robbers arrived in a monte-meubles -- a truck-mounted electric ladder commonly seen on Paris streets to move large furniture through apartment windows, according to a report by The New York Times. Using grinders, they smashed through a window, triggering security alarms before breaking into the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery, which houses royal jewels and crown diamonds displayed in a series of glass cases.

 

The Louvre stated that visitors were evacuated safely and the museum was closed for the day to preserve evidence. It had earlier announced on its website and social media that it was shutting for “exceptional reasons”.

 

Which pieces of jewellery did the thieves target?

 

According to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, the robbers completed their operation in just seven minutes. Two high-security display cases containing jewellery from the Napoleonic era were targeted. The thieves stole nine items, one of which was found near the scene, Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau told local media.

 

The French Ministry of Culture said the stolen collection included a tiara, necklace, and earring from the sapphire sets of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense. The thieves also took an emerald and diamond necklace and earrings from the collection of Empress Marie-Louise, along with a diamond brooch and the tiara of Empress Eugénie, adorned with more than 200 pearls and nearly 2,000 diamonds.

 

They attempted to seize the crown of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, but it was recovered near the site as the suspects fled. Authorities are assessing its condition.

 

The museum said the stolen jewels possess “heritage and historical value” beyond any market estimate. “The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X.

 

Ongoing investigation

 

It remains unclear whether the lift had been pre-positioned or brought by the thieves. “They are professionals,” French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said, noting that one piece of jewellery had been found, likely dropped as the suspects escaped.

 

The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that investigators are analysing objects left behind and reviewing security footage to trace the culprits.