A group of masked thieves staged a daring robbery at Paris’ Louvre Museum on Sunday, smashing through an upstairs window with a crane and escaping with priceless jewels from the French crown collection in just seven minutes, officials said.
Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau told BFM TV that four unarmed men carried out the swift operation, threatening guards with angle grinders before stealing eight of nine targeted artefacts. One of the missing pieces, the crown of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, was dropped during their getaway.
“The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our History,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, promising that the priceless jewels from Paris’ Louvre would be recovered and the culprits brought to justice.
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Beccuau described the heist as “highly professional,” adding that investigators suspect organised crime. The stolen treasures, believed to be worth tens of millions of euros, were taken from the Galerie d’Apollon, the same wing that houses the Regent Diamond valued at over $60 million.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said a specialist police unit known for cracking major art thefts had taken over the case.
The Louvre, which welcomed 8.7 million visitors in 2024, remained closed on Sunday for “exceptional reasons” while authorities combed the museum for evidence. As of Monday evening, police continue to follow multiple leads, and museum officials are reviewing security measures to prevent future incidents.
This is the latest in a series of high-profile museum thefts worldwide and comes decades after the Louvre’s most famous heist, the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa, which was recovered two years later.