Thieves strike Louvre Museum in Paris in broad daylight, steal Napoleonic jewels in 4 minutes

Paris: In a lightning-fast, four-minute strike inside the world’s most-visited museum, thieves on Sunday executed one of the most audacious art heists in recent French history, stealing jewels linked to Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie from the Louvre’s famed Galerie d’Apollon.

According to officials, the intruders used a basket lift to reach a window on the Seine-facing facade of the museum around 9:30 am, while thousands of tourists filled the corridors. Cutting through the panes with a disc cutter, they smashed display cases containing the French Crown Jewels and fled the scene with nine priceless objects from a 23-piece collection tied to the Napoleonic era.

The operation was carried out “without violence”, Culture Minister Rachida Dati told TF1 television, describing the thieves as “professionals.” One object — reportedly the emerald-studded crown of Empress Eugénie, adorned with gold, diamonds, and sculpted eagles — was later recovered just outside the museum’s walls, damaged but intact.

Images from the scene showed bewildered visitors being evacuated from under the museum’s glass pyramid as officers sealed the area and closed nearby streets along the Seine. A lift braced to the riverfront construction zone — now a key focus of investigators — appeared to have provided the thieves an extraordinary point of entry into the Denon wing.

The Louvre, already straining under the weight of record crowds and staffing shortages, was thrust into crisis. Employees have for months raised concerns about security understaffing and overcrowded galleries, issues that led to a partial shutdown during a staff walkout in June.

“The theft occurred at the intersection of multiple vulnerabilities — construction, visitor congestion, and limited oversight,” a museum union representative said, speaking anonymously.

The Galerie d’Apollon, capped by a vaulted ceiling painted for Louis XIV, is among the museum’s most celebrated halls, displaying France’s regalia and jewelry collection. That the thieves struck there, and in daylight, has shocked curators and officials alike.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the group entered “from the outside using a basket lift,” confirming that investigators are tracing the escape route believed to have ended on motorbikes waiting near the Seine. The museum was immediately closed for the day, with police sealing the courtyards and conducting a full inventory of missing pieces.

Daylight robberies inside museums — especially with tourists present — are exceedingly rare. Experts have compared the Louvre heist to the 2019 Dresden Green Vault burglary in Germany, when jewels worth hundreds of millions of euros were stolen, and to France’s last major museum theft more than a decade ago.

Security around the museum’s most famous works remains stringent: the Mona Lisa is kept behind bulletproof glass in a climate-controlled case, and galleries are equipped with motion detectors and cameras. Still, questions are mounting about whether staffing shortages or renovation work played any role in Sunday’s breach.

The Louvre’s history of thefts stretches back more than a century. Its most infamous came in 1911, when the Mona Lisa was stolen by Italian workman Vincenzo Peruggia and recovered two years later in Florence — a story that cemented the painting’s global fame.

Today, the museum houses more than 33,000 works, spanning ancient Mesopotamia to modern Europe. On any given day, up to 30,000 visitors move through its halls — a logistical and security challenge even without the added strain of large-scale renovation projects.

The heist has quickly reverberated through France’s political landscape. Far-right leader Jordan Bardella accused President Emmanuel Macron of presiding over a state in decline, writing on X (formerly Twitter): “The Louvre is a global symbol of our culture. This robbery, which allowed thieves to steal jewels from the French Crown, is an unbearable humiliation for our country. How far will the decay of the state go?”

The criticism comes at a sensitive time for Macron’s government, which has been promoting a €700 million “Louvre New Renaissance” plan — a decade-long effort to modernise infrastructure, reduce crowding, and create a dedicated gallery for the Mona Lisa by 2031. For many Louvre employees, the promises of reform have not yet materialised amid growing visitor numbers and ongoing construction.

Authorities have launched a full-scale investigation, deploying forensic teams to examine the broken window, the display cases, and the basket lift left at the scene. Police are also reviewing CCTV footage from multiple angles within the Denon wing and the riverfront entrance and interviewing staff who were present when the museum opened.

According to Le Parisien, the heist involved four perpetrators: two men dressed as construction workers in yellow safety vests who operated the lift, and two accomplices waiting nearby on scooters for a quick getaway.

Officials have called the stolen items of “inestimable historical value”, though the exact worth remains unknown. Culture Minister Dati confirmed that one jewel was recovered but declined to say whether police had identified suspects or traced the route of escape.

Investigators are focusing on whether the thieves may have had inside knowledge of the museum’s layout or schedules. The use of a construction access point, coinciding with ongoing renovation work along the Seine facade, suggests detailed planning and reconnaissance.

For now, large portions of the Louvre remain cordoned off as teams conduct a meticulous inventory and forensic sweep. The museum’s press office said it was cooperating fully with authorities and would reopen “as soon as the security perimeter is cleared.”