The gang who stormed into the Louvre this morning, stealing priceless Napoleonic jewels from the world’s most-visited museum, were dressed as workers with helmets and hi-vis vests
A “highly organised criminal gang” posing as workmen broke into the Louvre today and took just seven minutes to steal priceless jewellery that once belonged to Napoleon and his family.
The audacious daylight raid took place around 9.30am on Sunday morning, just as the world-famous Paris art museum was preparing to open. Instead, it was shut for the day, as French detectives joined Louvre staff and senior politicians in examining the heist scene.
“The major robbery took just seven minutes,” said French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, revealing that nine pieces were stolen in total, with two recovered soon afterwards after apparently being dropped and damaged. He said two thieves arrived on Yamaha Tmax scooters, while two others were waiting on the back of a flat-bed truck with an extendable ladder.
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All the suspects were dressed as workers, with helmets and hi-vis yellow vests, and they targeted a wing of the Louvre by the Seine River, where construction work was ongoing. They used the ladder to get up to a window close to the Galerie d’Apollon (Apollo Gallery).
“The window was cut through, using a hand-held disc cutter,” said Mr Nuñez, who explained a chainsaw was then used to get into display cabinets. Images broadcast by French TV channel BFM show one of the men wearing a yellow vest as he breaks into a cabinet.
Created by King Louis XIV – who identified himself with the sun god, Apollo – the fabulously ornate Galerie d’Apollon is home to numerous priceless jewels. Among them is the Eugénie Crown, which was today found broken and discarded by the thieves below the Louvre window.
Made in 1855, the Second Empire piece is adorned with thousands of diamonds and emeralds. It is named after Eugénie de Montijo, who became Empress of the French following her marriage to Napoleon III in 1853. Napoleon III’s father was Louis Bonaparte, the younger brother of the more famous Napoleon I, or Napoleon Bonaparte. After being crowned Emperor and Empress of France in 1804, Napoleon and Josephine amassed one of the most sumptuous jewellery collections ever.
Many of the pieces were stolen from royalty during the French Revolution, while others were amassed from around the Empire. Mr Nuñez confirmed that an investigation had been launched into “theft and criminal conspiracy to commit a crime” by a “highy organised criminal gang”.
Beyond Eugénie’s Crown, items stolen included another crown, emerald earrings and a brooch, the Ministry of Culture said. The Banditism Repression Brigade of the Judicial Police (BRB) is leading the enquiry, along with the Central Office for Combating Trafficking in Cultural Property. Mr Nuñez said: “It was necessary to close the Louvre to visitors, primarily to preserve traces and clues so that investigators could work calmly. The evacuation of the public took place without incident.”
Mr Nuñez added: “We can’t prevent everything. There is great vulnerability in French museums. Everything is being done to ensure we find the perpetrators as quickly as possible, and I’m hopeful.” He said CCTV footage was being studied, and “it’s not impossible that the perpetrators are foreigners.”
“The gang was experienced and had obviously been watching the site before the operation,” he shared. One of the mopeds used by the criminals was later found abandoned in a nearby street. Rachida Dati, France’s Culture Minister, said: “I am on site alongside the museum staff and the police.”
She said nobody was hurt during the raids, while a Louvre spokesman confirmed the museum was shut “for exceptional reasons”. Former President François Hollande described the robbery as a “serious act” and an “attack on our heritage”, Le Parisien reported. Regarding the origins of the perpetrators, the socialist MP for Corrèze declared: “I’m not ruling out any hypothesis.”
The most infamous theft at the Louvre came in 1911 when Leonardo Da Vinci’s 16th Century Mona Lisa was taken, causing an international outcry. Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of the world’s most visited art museum, hid in a cupboard overnight to take the painting. It was recovered two years later when he tried to sell it to an antiques dealer in Florence, Italy.
The latest raid comes despite the authorities regularly pledging to improve security at the numerous galleries across Paris. Axe-wielding thieves targeted an exhibition of miniature objects at the Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris on November 20, 2024. Among their haul were seven highly prized snuffboxes, including two loaned by the British Crown. The daytime raid led to an insurance payout of more than £3million to the Royal Collection Trust.
In 2017, three art thieves were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for stealing five masterpieces worth almost £100million from the Paris Museum of Modern Art. The burglary in May 2010 saw works by Picasso and Matisse disappearing.
The latest Louvre theft was reminiscent of the opening scene of Lupin , the Netflix series about Arsène Lupin, a fictional “gentleman thief”. The Louvre welcomed nearly nine million visitors in 2024, 80% of whom were foreigners, including hundreds of thousands of people from the UK.
Those stealing historical art pieces are often working to the orders of dealers who will be unable to sell on the black market. Instead, the jewellery will be kept hidden, and enjoyed by the master criminal who commissioned the raid.