It took just seven minutes for thieves armed with grinders to enter and leave the world-famous Louvre Museum in Paris with an array of royal necklaces, tiaras and earrings.
They left the 140-carat “Régent” diamond intact, dropped a crown with more than 1,000 diamonds and fled, abandoning a yellow vest with traces of DNA — giving hope to embarrassed politicians and police that a massive security failure will not lead to permanent loss.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said he was “hopeful that we will very quickly find the perpetrators and, above all, the stolen items.”
FREE LIST
10 small caps to invest in
The list of stocks from promising sectors on the Stock Exchange
At around 9:30 am on Sunday, two criminals parked a furniture lift and put it into operation, according to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau. The duo, assisted by two accomplices, climbed to a window on the first floor and invaded Galeria Apolo at 9:34 am, threatening the guards and cutting the glass of two shop windows.
The theft included a tiara, sapphire necklace and matching earrings from the collection of queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings belonging to Marie-Louise; a reliquary brooch; and a tiara and large corsage bow from Empress Eugénie. On the street, the group fled on TMax scooters.
“We failed,” said Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin on radio France Interrecognizing that the theft gives “a deplorable image of France”.
Continues after advertising
Benjamin Camboulives, spokesman for the police union Alternative Police, said security at the Louvre was supposed to rely on video surveillance and external patrols — but no one noticed the furniture lift’s arrival on a Sunday when no work was scheduled.
Still, Camboulives sees hope in the thieves’ amateurism, especially because they dropped Empress Eugénie’s crown — studded with 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds — during their escape.
The Crime Suppression Brigade, a special police unit, is reviewing camera footage and other clues, including the vest, a blanket with traces of DNA and the furniture lift that the group tried — and failed — to burn.
Inside the museum, security protocol appears to have been followed. The Culture Ministry said alarms connected to the police went off when the window and display cases were broken, and the five employees on duty focused on getting visitors out to safety.
This is typical, according to Marc Hocquard of the UNSA police union, who says private security officers should not put themselves at risk to stop a robbery.
While these employees will likely be the first to be interviewed by BRB officers, Beccuau gave some clues about the investigations.
Continues after advertising
“Or it is a commission from a collector, in which case, if we identify that collector and sponsor, we will find the jewelry in good condition,” she said in an interview with BFM TV on Sunday. “Or, as we have seen on several occasions, it is a commission from people who identified the jewelry solely by the stones, pearls and rare metals from which it is made.”
President Emmanuel Macron said he hoped this was the first case and that “we will recover the works and the authors will be brought to justice”, he said in a post on X.
This is not the first time that the Louvre has been the scene of an audacious robbery that exposes flaws in its security.
Continues after advertising
The most famous occurred on August 21, 1911, when a thief removed the Mona Lisa from the wall, wrapped it in his clothes and walked out the door. The museum was closed that day — a Monday — and the absence of the work was only noticed the following morning. Gioconda’s recovery took more than two years.
Most recently, French authorities recovered five of the seven precious snuff boxes stolen from the Cognacq-Jay Museum last year. Despite the success of the operation, Nunez called for better preparation and anticipation to deal with what he called “a relatively new form of theft.”
“We are working on measures to reinforce security in all museums, as there is a vulnerability,” said the Minister of the Interior in an interview with franceinfo.
Continues after advertising
That will begin with an audit of existing security measures at museums and other cultural institutions — and suggestions for improvements — which Nunez ordered after Monday’s crisis meeting with his Culture Ministry counterpart.
While the investigation into the Louvre continues, the museum remained closed on Monday.
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
