One object, the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie, containing more than 1300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum, French authorities said. It was reportedly recovered broken.
“It’s worth several tens of millions of euros – just this crown. And it’s not, in my opinion, the most important item,” Drouot auction house president Alexandre Giquello said.
According to The Parisianthe robbers – who wore masks and arrived at the iconic French attraction on scooters – used an angle grinder to break in through a window.
The robbery is likely to raise questions about security at the museum, where officials had already sounded the alarm about lack of investment at a world-famous site that welcomed 8.7 million visitors in 2024.
Empress Eugenie’s crown in the Louvre’s Apollon gallery. It was later found – damaged – outside the museum, French authorities said.Credit: Hans Lucas via AFP
Empress Eugenie’s diadem of pearls was also stolen.Credit: Hans Lucas via AFP
“The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our History,” President Emmanuel Macron said on X. “We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”
Nunez told France Inter that the thieves got into the museum from outside using a crane – which has been described as a basket lift or furniture elevator – that was positioned on a truck.
What jewels were stolen?
The French Culture Ministry said the following eight pieces were stolen:
- Tiara from the jewellery set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense
- Necklace from the sapphire jewellery set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense
- An earring, part of a pair from the sapphire jewellery set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense. The set includes a tiara featuring 24 Ceylon sapphires and 1083 diamonds, as well as a necklace that includes eight sapphires, surrounded by diamonds in intricate gold settings, and a pair of sapphire earrings. Only one of the earrings was taken.
- Emerald necklace from the Marie-Louise set
- Pair of emerald earrings from the Marie-Louise set
- Brooch known as the reliquary brooch
- Tiara of Empress Eugenie, which features 212 pearls, 1998 diamonds and 992 rose-cut diamonds
- Large bodice knot (brooch) of Empress Eugenie
The crown of Empress Eugenie was found outside the museum. The thieves apparently dropped the piece, made of gold, emerald and diamonds, as they made their getaway.
“They broke a window, headed to several display cases and stole jewels … which have a real historical, priceless value,” Nunez said.
Beccuau said the robbery – which she said took between six and seven minutes in total – carried out by four people who were unarmed, but who threatened the guards with their angle grinders.
They did not target or steal the world-famous Regent diamond, which is housed in the same gallery the thieves hit, she told BFM TV. Sotheby’s estimates the Regent is worth more than $US60 million ($92.6 million).
Beccuau said it was a mystery why the thieves did not steal the Regent diamond.
“I don’t have an explanation,” she said. “It’ll only be when they’re in custody and face investigators that we’ll know what type of order they had and why they didn’t target that window.”
Beccuau said one of the thieves was wearing a yellow reflective vest, which investigators have since recovered. She added that the robbers tried and failed to set fire to the crane, as they fled.
Probe under way
A video posted on X by a museum guide showed visitors filing towards exits in the middle of their tour, initially unaware of the reason for the disruption.
Nunez said a probe had been opened, with a specialised police unit that has a high success rate in cracking high-profile robberies such as this one tasked with running it.
The basket lift used by thieves to enter the Louvre on Sunday.Credit: AP
Forensics officers at the scene.Credit: Getty Images
No injuries were reported, Dati said.
The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum and home to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, said on X it would remain closed for the day for “exceptional reasons”.
In one of the most daring art thefts in history, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the museum in 1911 in a heist involving a former employee. He was eventually caught and the painting was returned to the museum two years later.
Questions on scrutiny
Officials at the Louvre this year requested urgent help from the French government to restore and renovate the museum’s ageing exhibition halls and better protect its countless works of art.
Macron, writing on X, said that a new government plan for the Louvre announced in January “provides for strengthened security.”
French police at the entrance to the Louvre following the heist.Credit: Getty Images
The area around the Louvre was sealed off.Credit: Getty Images
Dati said the issue of museum security was not new.
“For 40 years, there was little focus on securing these major museums, and two years ago, the president of the Louvre requested a security audit from the police prefect. Why? Because museums must adapt to new forms of crime,” she said.
“Today, it’s organised crime – professionals.”
AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
