Breaking News: Priceless Jewellery Stolen in Heist at Louvre Museum in Paris

By Millie Barker

French police stand outside the Louvre Museum next to the window and crane believed to have been used in the robbery.

Image courtesy of Reuters and Gonzalo Fuentes.

Historic crown jewels of incalculable value were stolen from the Louvre in Paris at 09:30 (CEST) yesterday morning. The French Interior Ministry reports that three to four people broke into the Galerie d’Apollon, which holds what remains of France’s crown jewels, via a mechanised lift mounted on a lorry. The break-in occurred on the River Seine side of the building where construction work was taking place. Visitors were evacuated almost immediately to preserve the scene for forensics, and the museum shut down for the day.

France’s Cultural Minister Rachida Dati said that the thieves were not violent and very professional in their actions; ‘We saw some footage: they don’t target people, they enter calmly in four minutes, smash display cases, take their loot and leave.’ The thieves escaped on motorcycles. No injuries have been reported.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez says the items taken from the Napoleon and Sovereign display are of inestimable heritage value. The jewels taken have not been confirmed however one piece of jewellery has been recovered outside of the museum, apparently dropped by the escaping thieves. According to Le Parisian, the item is believed to be Empress Eugenie’s crown.

The Louvre Museum is the largest exhibition space in the world, with nearly 73,000 square metres of space available for visitors to explore. The Museum welcomed 8.7 million visitors in 2024 and has a daily visitor cap of 30,000 to manage overcrowding.

While the Louvre has a long history of theft, including the most famous of 1911 when Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa (c. 1503–1506) was stolen by former worker, Vincenzo Peruggia, this is the second major recent theft in Paris. In September, several specimens valued at €600,000 were stolen from the French Natural History Museum. Serious questions about the Louvre’s security and the vulnerability of Parisian museums have been raised.

Bibliography

Chrisafis, Angelique. “Precious gold samples stolen in raid on French natural history museum.” The Guardian, September 17th, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/17/precious-gold-samples-stolen-france-natural-history-museum.

Lapham, Jake. “Hunt continues for thieves after priceless jewels stolen in heist at Louvre Museum in Paris.” BBC News, October 19th, 2025. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c62lnennzgdt.

Decugis, Jean-Michel, Louis Valleau and Candice Doussot. “Louvre Museum: Angle grinder, stolen jewelry, escape in a TMax... What we know about this lightning burglary.” Le Parisien, October 19th, 2025. https://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/bijoux-voles-malfrats-en-fuite-ce-que-lon-sait-du-cambriolage-dont-a-ete-victime-le-musee-du-louvre-a-louverture-19-10-2025-2NGJ5D7FJJGZNNPGHJ7APFUO7A.php.

Thomas, Rebecca. “Louvre closed after ‘masked thieves break into museum using chainsaw and steal ‘priceless’ jewelry.” Independent, October 19th, 2025. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/louvre-art-robbery-closed-paris-france-police-b2848024.html.

Hamaide, de La Sybille. “Thieves steal priceless jewels from Paris’ Louvre in brazen daylight heist.” Reuters, October 19th, 2025. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/thieves-steal-jewels-louvre-paris-media-reports-2025-10-19/.