Four-minute heist at the Louvre: How priceless jewels were stolen in France

The Louvre Museum successful the French superior has closed for “exceptional reasons” aft a radical of intruders successfully stole 8 pieces of priceless jewellery successful a quick-hit heist that has rocked the world’s most-visited museum.

A manhunt for the thieves was nether mode successful Paris connected Sunday arsenic constabulary cordoned disconnected the depository – famously location to Leonardo da Vinci’s coating Mona Lisa – with portion and arsenic equipped soldiers patrolled its iconic solid pyramid entrance.

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French authorities and depository officials said respective intruders entered the Galerie d’Apollon (Apollo’s Gallery) done a model soon aft the depository opened, relying connected a assistance utilized to hoist furnishings into buildings.

Within conscionable 4 minutes, the thieves stole distant connected motorcycles laden with 8 items dating backmost to the Napoleonic era, dropping a ninth connected their mode out.

Here’s what we cognize astir the heist, which arrives arsenic the Louvre faces questions implicit ample crowds and overworked staff.

What happened?

Around 9:30am section clip (07:30 GMT) connected Sunday, arsenic tourists already roamed the halls of the Louvre, the thieves zeroed successful connected Apollo’s Gallery – a gold-gilded, lavishly painted hallway commissioned by King Louis XIV that houses the French crown jewels.

Describing the incidental arsenic a “major robbery”, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the thieves utilized a handbasket assistance to scope the museum’s windows, entered the assemblage and escaped via motorbike with “jewels of inestimable value”.

The Louvre evacuated each visitors and posted a announcement online that the depository would stay closed passim the time nether “exceptional” circumstances.

Police meantime sealed the gates, cleared courtyards and adjacent closed disconnected adjacent streets on the Seine River arsenic authorities kicked disconnected an investigation.

It was “crazy”, 1 American tourist, Talia Ocampo, told the AFP quality bureau – “like a Hollywood movie”.

No injuries were reported, but the thieves – believed to fig 4 radical – remained astatine ample arsenic of Sunday evening.

The crown of the Empress Eugénie de Montijo displayed astatine Apollon’s Gallery astatine the Louvre depository successful Paris successful 2020. Thieves attempted to bargain the portion connected Sunday [File: Stephane de Sakutin/AFP]

What was stolen during the heist?

Thieves successfully removed 8 items from 2 high-security show cases, the Ministry of Culture confirmed precocious connected Sunday, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that French Emperor Napoleon I gave to his wife, Empress Marie Louise.

The crown of Empress Eugenie – the woman of Napoleon III – was recovered extracurricular the walls of the museum, wherever it was dropped by the thieves arsenic they fled, the ministry said.

The crown contains 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, the Louvre said.

Apollo’s Gallery is location to a scope of priceless gems, including 3 humanities diamonds – the Regent, the Sancy and the Hortensia – and “the magnificent hardstone vas postulation of the kings of France”, according to the museum’s website.

Anthony Amore, an creation theft adept and co-author of the publication Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Stories of Notorious Art Heists, told Al Jazeera the items contained successful the postulation were priceless “not conscionable successful presumption of dollars, but successful presumption of taste patrimony”.

“It’s not similar stealing a masterpiece wherever instantly quality media … would publicise this image,” Amore said. “You mightiness spot pieces similar this breached up and idiosyncratic jewels sold that are indistinguishable to members of the public.”

The Regent diamond was not among the items targeted by the thieves, Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau told BFMTV.

This photograph shows a furnishings elevator utilized by robbers to participate the Louvre Museum, connected Quai Francois Mitterrand, successful Paris, France connected October 19, 2025 [Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP]

How did the thieves bash it?

The thieves utilized a operation of powerfulness tools, motorcycles and ratio to propulsion disconnected the minutes-long heist, authorities said.

The radical drew up connected a scooter equipped with space grinders, 1 constabulary root told AFP. They utilized the hoist to entree the assemblage from the outside, cutting windowpanes with a disc cutter.

One witness, who told the TF1 quality outlet that helium was riding his bicycle adjacent astatine the time, said helium saw 2 men “get connected the hoist, interruption the model and enter”, adding that the full cognition “took 30 seconds”.

Le Parisien reported that the thieves entered the depository – located wrong a erstwhile palace – via the facade facing the Seine, wherever operation enactment is ongoing. Two were dressed arsenic operation workers successful yellowish information vests, the paper said.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati said authorities arrived “a mates of minutes aft we received accusation of this robbery”.

“To beryllium wholly honest, this cognition lasted astir 4 minutes – it was precise quick,” she said.

Footage showed the hoist braced to the Seine-facing facade and starring up to a balcony window, which observers said was the thieves’ introduction constituent earlier it was removed Sunday.

What happens now?

With the thieves inactive astatine large, forensic teams person descended upon the Louvre and surrounding streets to stitchery grounds and reappraisal CCTV footage from the Denon wing, wherever Apollo’s Gallery is located, and the Seine riverfront.

Authorities besides planned to interrogation unit who were moving erstwhile the depository opened connected Sunday, they said.

The Interior Ministry said it was compiling a elaborate database of the stolen items, but added that “beyond their marketplace value, these items person priceless practice and humanities value”.

Dati, the civilization minister, suggested the thieves were “professionals”.

“Organised transgression contiguous targets objects of art, and museums person of people go targets,” she said.

The coating “La Joconde” (the Mona Lisa) by Italian creator Leonardo Da Vinci astatine the Louvre depository successful Paris connected January 28, 2025 [File: Bertrand Guay/AFP]

Have akin heists happened successful the past?

The Louvre’s astir celebrated heist occurred successful 1911, erstwhile the Mona Lisa representation disappeared from its frame. It was recovered 2 years later, but decades afterward, successful 1956, a visitant threw a chromatic astatine the world-famous coating – chipping overgarment adjacent the subject’s near elbow and prompting the representation to beryllium moved down bulletproof glass.

In caller years, the depository has struggled with increasing crowds, which totalled 8.7 cardinal successful 2024, and frustrated unit who accidental they are stretched excessively thin.

In June, the depository delayed opening owed to a unit walkout implicit chronic understaffing.

The information that Sunday’s theft took spot successful wide daylight inspired a question of consternation from French citizens and politicians.

“It’s conscionable unbelievable that a depository this celebrated tin person specified evident information gaps,” Magali Cunel, a French teacher from adjacent Lyon, told the Associated Press quality agency.