Thieves Pull Off Four-Minute Jewellery Heist at Paris’s Louvre Museum

In one of the most daring museum robberies in recent French history, thieves armed with power tools stole eight priceless pieces of jewellery from the Louvre Museum in Paris, French authorities said on Sunday.

The heist took place around 9:30am (07:30 GMT) inside the Galerie d’Apollon, the grand hall that houses France’s royal jewels, as the museum was already open to visitors. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the entire operation lasted just four minutes.

The suspects escaped with eight items, while a ninth, a crown once belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, was recovered nearby after being dropped during the getaway.

“Beyond their market value, these items have priceless heritage and historical value,” the ministry said, noting that no one was injured during the robbery.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati called the heist “professional and exceptionally fast.” Speaking to reporters, she said:

“We came immediately, a couple of minutes after we received information of this robbery. To be completely honest, this operation lasted almost four minutes – it was very quick. We have to say that these are professionals.”

The Louvre — the world’s most visited museum and home to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, announced on X that it would remain closed for the day “for exceptional reasons.”

Forensic teams were seen collecting evidence, while police began reviewing CCTV footage from inside and around the museum. Footage posted online showed police sealing off the Louvre’s gates, leaving crowds of bewildered tourists outside.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described the incident as a “major robbery,” saying the perpetrators used a construction basket lift to reach windows facing the Seine before cutting through the glass “with a disc cutter” and entering the gallery. They fled the scene on motorbikes.

French daily Le Parisien reported that ongoing facade renovation work may have provided the thieves with access points that were less secure than usual.

The Louvre has seen major thefts before, most famously in 1911, when the Mona Lisa was stolen by a former museum worker and recovered two years later in Florence. In 1983, two pieces of Renaissance armour were taken and recovered decades later.

The robbery follows a troubling pattern of recent museum crimes in France. Last month, gold samples worth €600,000 ($700,000) were stolen from the Natural History Museum in Paris. In another daylight raid last year, thieves smashed display cases at the Cognacq-Jay Museum with axes and baseball bats, escaping with snuffboxes and other artefacts.