Thieves staged a brazen daylight robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday, using a crane to smash through an upper-floor window and steal priceless French crown jewels before escaping on motorbikes, French authorities said.
According to the Interior Ministry, the break-in occurred around 9:30 a.m. local time (0730 GMT), shortly after the museum opened its doors to visitors. The gang, believed to have included three or four individuals accessed the Galerie d’Apollon, the ornate gallery that houses France’s historic royal jewels, and made off with several irreplaceable pieces in a four-minute operation.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati described the robbery as “highly professional,” telling French broadcaster TF1 that security footage showed the thieves acting calmly and avoiding confrontation. ”They don’t target people; they enter calmly, in four minutes, smash display cases, take their loot, and leave. No violence — very professional,’’ Dati said.
One jewel, the crown of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, was recovered outside the museum, apparently dropped during the thieves’ escape, according to Le Parisien. The newspaper said the recovered crown had been damaged in the process.
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Interior Minister Laurent Nunez confirmed on France Inter radio that the thieves used a crane mounted on a truck to reach the museum’s upper floor. “They broke a window, headed to several display cases and stole jewels which have a real historical, priceless value,” he said.
A special police unit that specialises in major art and jewellery thefts has been assigned to lead the investigation, officials said. No injuries were reported. The Louvre announced on X that it would remain closed for the day “for exceptional reasons” while security and forensic teams worked at the scene.
Videos shared by a museum guide on social media showed confused visitors being ushered toward exits mid-tour, unaware at first of the unfolding incident.
The French government said it was reviewing museum security protocols following recent warnings about underfunding at the world-famous institution, which hosted 8.7 million visitors in 2024.
The robbery evokes memories of one of the most notorious art thefts in history, the 1911 Mona Lisa heist, when the masterpiece was stolen by a former museum employee and recovered two years later.
As investigators try to piece together all the information about how the operation happened in broad daylight, officials have pledged a swift response. “We will mobilize all resources to identify and arrest those responsible,” Nunez said.