In a brazen daylight heist, professional thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris early Sunday morning and made off with jewels that belonged to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
The burglars used a mechanical lift and an angle grinder, power tools commonly used on construction jobs, to access a second-floor balcony and break through a window of the iconic museum into the Apollon Gallery, according to Paris news outlets.
Three masked thieves made off with nine pieces of jewelry, escaping on two motor scooters, sparking panic among tourists as police swarmed the famous institution, according to reports.
The group took only ten minutes, between 9:30 and 9:40, to make off with their loot, according to the New York Post’s review of French outlets.
Among items taken were a necklace, a brooch, and a tiara, but forensic work was also underway to compile a detailed list of what was stolen and its exact worth.
That can’t always be measured in euros or dollars.
Police secure a furniture elevator extended to the balcony of a gallery at the Louvre Museum on October 19, 2025 in Paris, France. Culture Minister, Rachida Dati, announced the closure of the world-famous art museum due to the robbery taking place just after the Louvre opened to the public. (Kiran Ridley/Getty)
“Beyond their market value, the items have inestimable heritage and historical value,” the French Interior Ministry said in a statement.
One of the items was apparently left or dropped by the thieves. A crown believed to have belonged to Napoleons’s wife, Empress Eugenie, was discovered damaged outside the gallery, according to LeParisien.
There were no reports of injuries of weapons being used in the heist.
The Louvre is the home of the “Venus de Milo” and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” It ranks as the world’s most popular museum, attracting nearly nine million visitors annually, which averages out to nearly 25,000 people a day.
The burglary has added to a recent controversy around the Paris institution. This summer, the museum closed after a mass staff walkout as workers blamed overcrowding and understaffing.
Worker unions also claimed tourism was putting security at risk.
On Sunday, a conservative politicians called the incident a “humiliation” and evidence of the country’s “decay” in leadership.
“The Louvre is a global symbol of our culture. This heist, which allowed thieves to steal the Crown Jewels of France, is an intolerable humiliation for our country. How far will the decay of the state go?” Jordan Bardella, a politician with the right-wing National Rally Party wrote on X.
Overlooking the River Seine, the area where the burglary took place is a part of the building where construction work was taken place.
Authorities have not said whether the lift used to access the second floor was already parked outside as part of that work, which would have considerably enabled the crime.
The suspects were wearing construction worker uniforms and hoods over their heads, said one investigator, ABC reported. One burglar waited outside, apparently as a lookout, while the other two broke into the glass enclosures that held the items.
Because the items stolen are so identifiable, authorities fear the thieves will melt down the jewelry to resell the gold, not only making it hard to track but destroying its historical value.
“The risk is that some of the diamonds could be sold at retail, which would make reconstituting the jewels very difficult,” a source close to the investigation told Le Parisien.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
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