Paris – In a bold and swift operation reminiscent of cinematic capers, a small group of thieves executed a brazen robbery at the Louvre museum on Sunday morning, pilfering several irreplaceable items from France’s royal heritage in under seven minutes during peak visiting hours.
The heist unfolded around 9:30 a.m., mere minutes after the museum’s doors opened to the public. According to officials and investigators, three or four masked intruders arrived via scooter, towing a truck equipped with an extendable powered ladder typically used for moving furniture. They positioned the device against the building’s exterior and ascended to a window overlooking the opulent Galerie d’Apollon, home to the Apollo Gallery and its renowned display of 19th-century crown jewels.
Wielding angle grinders, the thieves shattered the glass pane and breached two secure display cases, snatching eight priceless pieces linked to Napoleon Bonaparte and his successors. Among the stolen artifacts were likely the Regent, Sancy, and Hortensia diamonds—historic gems with immense cultural value—as well as an emerald-and-diamond necklace presented by Napoleon to Empress Marie Louise. Paris chief prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed to BFMTV that the gang targeted these specific items, threatening guards with their tools to ensure compliance.
In their haste to escape, the culprits dropped one key item: the gem-encrusted crown of Empress Eugénie, consort of Napoleon III. Adorned with 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, the artifact was later recovered nearby, though damaged. Authorities, including Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, described the haul as “priceless” and launched an immediate manhunt, with around 60 investigators mobilized. A discarded yellow vest from one thief provided an early lead.
Eyewitness Samir, cycling past the scene, recounted to TF1 seeing two men scale the ladder, smash the window in “30 seconds,” and vanish on scooters with two accomplices. The robbery occurred just 800 meters from Paris police headquarters, underscoring its audacity. Beccuau suggested the operation bore hallmarks of an organized crime syndicate, possibly commissioned or aimed at laundering through gem disassembly. An expert from Drouot auction house echoed this to LCI, noting the jewels’ “completely unsellable” state intact.
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The incident prompted an abrupt full-day closure of the Louvre, the globe’s most frequented art institution, which drew nine million visitors last year. Armed patrols encircled the iconic glass pyramid, while stunned tourists like American visitor Talia Ocampo described the chaos to AFP as “like a Hollywood movie” and “crazy,” lamenting the disruption to their plans.
This theft marks the latest in a string of museum assaults plaguing France. Last month, burglars employed an angle grinder to raid Paris’s Natural History Museum, fleeing with €600,000 ($700,000) in gold specimens. Earlier that month, artifacts valued at €6.5 million—a pair of dishes and a vase—vanished from a Limoges venue. In 2024, axe-wielding thieves hit another Paris collection, absconding with snuffboxes and relics.
Nunez, newly appointed interior minister and ex-Paris police chief, acknowledged “great vulnerability” in national museum safeguards. The Louvre, once a royal residence until Louis XIV’s shift to Versailles in the 1600s, has endured sporadic losses: a Camille Corot painting vanished in 1998 without trace, and the Mona Lisa was infamously lifted in 1911 by an insider, only to be reclaimed.
In January, President Emmanuel Macron committed to overhauling the Louvre following alarms raised by its director over deteriorating conditions. Culture Minister Rachida Dati affirmed Sunday that enhanced security would integrate into the redesign.
Beccuau expressed optimism, telling BFMTV, “I have no doubt that the museum will recover the stolen items in the coming days.” As forensics teams comb for clues—alarms activated but possibly unheard by staff—the probe intensifies, probing whether lapses in response enabled the fugitives’ clean getaway.
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