The daylight heist about half-hour after opening, with guests already inside, was among the many highest-profile museum thefts in dwelling reminiscence and comes as workers complained that crowding and skinny staffing are straining safety.
The theft unfolded simply 250 meters from the Mona Lisa, in what Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as an expert “four-minute operation.”
One object, the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s spouse, Empress Eugénie, containing greater than 1,300 diamonds, was later discovered outdoors the museum, French authorities stated. It was reportedly recovered damaged.
Images from the scene confirmed confused vacationers being steered out of the glass pyramid and adjoining courtyards as officers closed close by streets alongside the Seine. No one was harm.
Police officers block an entry to the Louvre museum after a theft in Paris on October 19, 2025. | Photo Credit: AP
Also seen was a raise braced to the Seine-facing facade close to a building zone, since eliminated — the thieves’ entry level and, observers stated, a placing vulnerability for a palace museum.
Around 9:30 a.m., a number of intruders compelled a window, minimize panes with a disc cutter and went straight for the glass show instances, officers stated. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez stated the crew entered from outdoors utilizing a basket raise by way of the riverfront facade, the place building is underway, to succeed in the corridor with the 23-item royal assortment.
Their goal was the gilded Apollon Gallery — the place the Crown Diamonds are displayed, together with the Regent, the Sancy and the Hortensia.
The thieves smashed two show instances and fled on motorbikes, Nunez stated. Alarms introduced Louvre brokers to the room, forcing the intruders to bolt, however the theft was already accomplished.
Eight objects had been taken, in line with officers: a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from an identical set linked to Nineteenth-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings from the matching set of Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second spouse; a reliquary brooch; Empress Eugénie’s diadem; and her massive corsage-bow brooch — a prized Nineteenth-century imperial ensemble.
“It’s a significant theft,” Nunez stated, noting that safety measures on the Louvre had been strengthened in recent times and can be bolstered additional as a part of the museum’s upcoming overhaul plan. Officials stated safety upgrades embrace new-generation cameras, perimeter detection, and a brand new safety management room. But critics say the measures come far too late.
The Louvre closed for the remainder of Sunday (October 19, 2025) for the forensic investigation to start as police sealed gates, cleared courtyards and shut close by streets alongside the Seine.
Daylight robberies throughout public hours are uncommon. Pulling one off contained in the Louvre with guests current ranks amongst Europe’s most audacious in current historical past, and not less than since Dresden’s Green Vault museum in 2019.
It additionally collides with a deeper pressure the Louvre has struggled to resolve: swelling crowds and stretched workers. The museum delayed opening throughout a June workers walkout over overcrowding and persistent understaffing. Unions say mass tourism leaves too few eyes on too many rooms and creates stress factors the place building zones, freight routes and customer flows meet.
Security round marquee works stays tight — the Mona Lisa sits behind bulletproof glass in a climate-controlled case — however Sunday’s theft additionally underscored that protections usually are not uniformly as strong throughout the museum’s greater than 33,000 objects.
The theft is a recent embarrassment for a museum already below scrutiny.
“How can they experience a raise to a window and take jewels in the midst of the day?” stated Magali Cunel, a French trainer from close to Lyon. “It’s simply unbelievable {that a} museum this well-known can have such apparent safety gaps.”
The Louvre has a protracted historical past of thefts and tried robberies. The most well-known got here in 1911, when the Mona Lisa vanished from its body, stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia and recovered two years later in Florence. Another infamous episode got here in 1956, when a customer hurled a stone at her world-famous smile, chipping paint close to her left elbow and hastening the transfer to show the work behind protecting glass.
Today the previous royal palace holds a roll name of civilization: Leonardo’s Mona Lisa; the armless serenity of the Venus de Milo; the Winged Victory of Samothrace, wind-lashed on the Daru staircase; the Code of Hammurabi’s carved legal guidelines; Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People; Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa. The objects — from Mesopotamia, Egypt and the classical world to Europe’s masters — draw a every day tide of as much as 30,000 guests at the same time as investigators now start to brush these gilded corridors for clues.
The heist spilled immediately into politics. Far-right chief Jordan Bardella used it to assault President Emmanuel Macron, weakened at dwelling and dealing with a fractured parliament.
“The Louvre is a world image of our tradition,” Bardella wrote on X. “This theft, which allowed thieves to steal jewels from the French Crown, is an insufferable humiliation for our nation. How far will the decay of the state go?”
The criticism lands as Macron touts a decade-long “Louvre New Renaissance” plan — about €700 million ($760 million) to modernize infrastructure, ease crowding and provides the Mona Lisa a devoted gallery by 2031. For staff on the ground, the aid has felt slower than the stress.
Forensic groups are inspecting the location of the crime and adjoining entry factors whereas a full stock is taken, authorities stated. Officials have described the haul as of “inestimable” historic worth.
Recovery might show tough. “It’s unlikely these jewels will ever be seen once more,” stated Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds. “Professional crews usually break down and re-cut massive, recognizable stones to evade detection, successfully erasing their provenance.”
Key questions nonetheless unanswered are how many individuals took half within the theft and whether or not they had inside help, authorities stated. According to French media, there have been 4 perpetrators: two dressed as building staff in yellow security vests on the raise, and two every on a scooter. French authorities didn’t instantly touch upon this.
Investigators are reviewing CCTV from the Denon wing and the riverfront, inspecting the basket raise used to succeed in the gallery and interviewing workers who had been on web site when the museum opened, authorities stated.
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