The French Minister of Culture, one of the first to arrive at the scene, believes that the operation was carried out by “professionals”. One of the jewels was found outside the museum
The French press describes the robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris as On Sunday morning, shortly after the museum opened to the public, several individuals – the number is not yet certain, but the preliminary investigation points to between three and four people – stole nine pieces from the collection of Napoleon and the Empress.
According to the newspaper, four individuals were involved in the robbery, which lasted just a few minutes. Two were dressed as museum employees, while two others were each driving a TMax scooter. At 9:30 am (local time), the suspects entered the museum on the Seine River pier side, where work is taking place, and used a freight elevator to access the Apollo Gallery, where the theft took place.
After breaking the windows with a chainsaw, two individuals entered the room and stole nine pieces from the jewelry collection of Napoleon and Empress Eugenie, the last French empress, including a necklace, a brooch and a tiara, according to the newspaper Le Parisien. The damage is still being assessed.
It all happened in “four minutes”, according to the French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, one of the first to arrive at the scene. The government official describes the perpetrators of the crime as “professionals”.
One of the jewels was found outside the museum, the minister confirmed. According to Le Parisien, it is the empress’s crown, which was damaged.
Suspects entered the museum from the Seine River pier, where work is taking place, and used a freight elevator to access the Apollo Gallery, where the theft took place. All in a matter of minutes (AP Photo/Alexander Turnbull)
When she arrived at the scene, Rachida Dati reported, via the social network X, that there were no injuries reported. Witnesses reported to the press that the museum, initially, “did not communicate anything for some time”. “A security guard told us that there was a technical incident” and “little by little the information began to spread that the museum would probably close for the day”, Grégoire, 35, who was at the Louvre at the time it all happened, tells Le Parisien.
The evacuation of the museum “took place very calmly, without panic, and in a very, very organized manner”, adds Grégoire.
Another witness describes a very different scenario. “The police tried to enter the Louvre through the side glass doors, but they were locked and impossible to open. Inside, everyone was running and banging on the glass doors to get out, but in vain,” says Kacie, who was outside the museum.
The most visited museum in the world, which hosts , had to be closed and will remain that way for the rest of the day. The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation and referred the case to the Banditry Repression Brigade (BRB) of the Criminal Investigation Department, with the support of the Central Office to Combat Trafficking in Cultural Goods (OCBC), the Interior Minister informed AFP.
Before this morning’s theft, the last recorded theft at the Louvre occurred in 1998, when a work by French painter Camille Corot was stolen in broad daylight and was never found again, according to the newspaper Le Parisien. But, according to Le Monde, several other French museums have been the target of thefts and robberies, with authorities raising possible failures in the protection and surveillance systems.
