‘Priceless’ jewels stolen from France’s Louvre Museum in four-minute heist

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The world’s most-visited depository volition stay closed for the time for ‘exceptional reasons’.

Published On 19 Oct 2025

Thieves wielding powerfulness tools person struck astatine the famed Louvre Museum successful Paris, stealing priceless jewels successful a brazen heist that took conscionable 4 minutes, according to the government.

The thieves struck astatine astir 9:30am (07:30 GMT) erstwhile the depository had already opened its doors to the nationalist and entered the Galerie d’Apollon building, which is location to the French crown jewels, the Ministry of the Interior said successful a connection connected Sunday.

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“The probe has begun, and a elaborate database of the stolen items is being compiled. Beyond their marketplace value, these items person priceless practice and humanities value,” the connection said, adding that nary injuries were reported, either among the nationalist oregon among Louvre unit oregon instrumentality enforcement officers.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati said the daring heist was implicit successful 4 minutes, and that 1 of the stolen jewellery pieces was recovered adjacent the museum.

“We came immediately, 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. We person to accidental that these are professionals,” she said.

The Louvre, the world’s most-visited depository and location to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, said connected X it would stay closed for the time for “exceptional reasons”.

Footage from extracurricular the depository showed chaotic scenes arsenic constabulary closed its gates and adjacent roads, resulting successful crowds of confused tourists extracurricular the complex.

Tourists locomotion past a French constabulary serviceman aft the Louvre Museum was closed pursuing a robbery, successful Paris connected October 19, 2025

Speaking to France Inter radio, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said “jewels of inestimable value” were stolen successful what helium described arsenic a “major robbery”.

He said the thieves utilized a handbasket assistance to scope the museum’s windows earlier cutting the panes “with a disc cutter” to participate the targeted gallery, earlier escaping connected motorbikes.

French regular Le Parisien reported that the thieves entered the museum, housed successful a erstwhile palace, via the facade facing the Seine, wherever operation enactment is nether way. The paper said the criminals reportedly stole “nine pieces from the jewellery postulation of Napoleon and the Empress”, adding that a crown belonging to Empress Eugenie was aboriginal recovered breached extracurricular the museum.

The Louvre has a agelong past of thefts, astir famously successful 1911, erstwhile the Mona Lisa was stolen by a erstwhile worker. It was recovered 2 years aboriginal successful Florence, Italy.

In 1983, 2 Renaissance-era pieces of armour were stolen from the Louvre and were recovered astir 4 decades later.

Several French depository person precocious been targeted.

Last month, thieves broke into Paris’s Natural History Museum, making disconnected with golden samples worthy 600,000 euros ($700,000). They utilized an space grinder and a stroke torch to bargain the autochthonal gold, a metallic alloy containing golden and metallic successful their earthy unrefined form.

In November past year, 4 thieves stole snuffboxes and different precious artifacts from different Paris depository successful wide daylight, breaking into a show lawsuit with axes and shot bats. They snuck into the Cognacq-Jay depository wearing gloves, hoods and helmets, striking successful afloat presumption of different visitors to the museum.

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