Brazen Sunday Heist: Thieves Steal Napoleonic Jewels From Paris’ Louvre Museum

The Louvre Museum in Paris was forced to close on Sunday after a daring daylight heist saw thieves make off with Napoleon-era jewels from one of its most prized galleries.

According to France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, the robbers accessed the museum around 9:30 a.m. using a hydraulic ladder on the Seine-facing side, which is currently under construction. They broke into the Apollo Gallery, home to the French Crown Jewels, by cutting through windowpanes with a disc cutter — an operation Nunez described as “well-planned and executed within just seven minutes.”

The thieves escaped with nine pieces of jewellery from the “Napoleon and the Empress” collection, though one was later recovered outside the museum, French daily Le Parisien reported. The Louvre has since cited “exceptional reasons” for its closure and has yet to issue an official statement.

An investigation has been opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office, which is now working with police to assess the extent of the loss. Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who arrived at the scene soon after the theft, confirmed that no injuries occurred and praised the rapid response of security and law enforcement teams.

Visuals from the site showed barricades surrounding the museum as crowds of visitors gathered outside. Traffic around the area was temporarily diverted. Known as the world’s most visited museum, the Louvre welcomes nearly 30,000 visitors daily and houses over 33,000 artworks and artefacts, including the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace.

The museum has faced thefts before — most famously in 1911, when the Mona Lisa was stolen by former employee Vincenzo Peruggia and recovered two years later in Italy. The most recent notable theft occurred in 1983, when two Renaissance-era armours went missing; they were recovered nearly four decades later in 2021.

Sunday’s incident now ranks among the most audacious art heists in French history, raising renewed concerns about security at one of the world’s most iconic cultural institutions.