By THOMAS ADAMSON
PARIS (AP) — In a minutes-long strike Sunday contained in the world’s most-visited museum, thieves rode a basket raise to the Louvre, compelled a window into the Galerie d’Apollon — whereas vacationers pressed shoulder-to-shoulder within the corridors — smashed show instances and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officers stated.
It was among the many highest-profile museum thefts in current reminiscence and comes as Louvre workers have complained of employee and safety understaffing.
One object was later discovered exterior the museum, in response to Tradition Minister Rachida Dati. French each day Le Parisien reported it was the emerald-studded crown of Napoleon III’s spouse Empress Eugénie — gold, diamonds and sculpted eagles — recovered simply past the partitions, damaged.
Dati referred to as the strike the work of “professionals,” describing it on TF1 TV community as “a four-minute operation carried out without violence.”
Photographs from the scene confirmed confused vacationers being steered out of the glass pyramid and adjoining courtyards as officers closed close by streets alongside the Seine.
Additionally seen was a raise braced to the Seine-facing facade close to a building zone — a unprecedented vulnerability at a palace-museum.
A museum already below pressure
Round 9:30 a.m., a number of intruders compelled a window, reduce panes with a disc cutter and went straight for the vitrines, officers stated. Inside Minister Laurent Nuñez stated the crew entered from exterior utilizing a basket raise.
The selection of goal compounded the shock. The vaulted Galerie d’Apollon within the Denon wing, capped by a ceiling painted for Louis XIV, shows a choice of the French Crown Jewels. The thieves are believed to have approached through the riverfront facade, the place building is underway, used a freight elevator to achieve the corridor, took 9 items from a 23-item assortment linked to Napoleon and the Empress, and made off on motorbikes, in response to Le Parisien.
Daylight robberies throughout public hours are uncommon. Pulling one off contained in the Louvre — with guests current — ranks amongst Europe’s most audacious since Dresden’s Inexperienced Vault museum in 2019, and essentially the most severe in France in additional than a decade.
It additionally collides with a deeper rigidity the Louvre has struggled to resolve: swelling crowds and stretched workers. The museum delayed opening throughout a June workers walkout over overcrowding and continual understaffing. Unions say mass tourism leaves too few eyes on too many rooms and creates stress factors the place building zones, freight routes and customer flows meet.
Safety round marquee works stays tight — the Mona Lisa is behind bulletproof glass in a bespoke, climate-controlled case.
It’s unclear whether or not staffing ranges performed any position in Sunday’s breach.
The Louvre has a protracted historical past of thefts and tried robberies. Essentially the most well-known got here in 1911, when the Mona Lisa vanished from its body, stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia and recovered two years later in Florence.
As we speak the previous royal palace holds a roll name of civilization: Leonardo’s Mona Lisa; the armless serenity of the Venus de Milo; the Winged Victory of Samothrace, wind-lashed on the Daru staircase; the Code of Hammurabi’s carved legal guidelines; Delacroix’s Liberty Main the Folks; Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa. Greater than 33,000 works — from Mesopotamia, Egypt and the classical world to Europe’s masters — draw a each day tide of as much as 30,000 guests whilst investigators now start to comb these gilded corridors for clues.
Politics on the door
The heist spilled immediately into politics. Far-right chief Jordan Bardella used it to assault President Emmanuel Macron, weakened at residence and dealing with a fractured parliament.
“The Louvre is a global symbol of our culture,” Bardella wrote on X. “This robbery, which allowed thieves to steal jewels from the French Crown, is an unbearable humiliation for our country. How far will the decay of the state go?”
The criticism lands as Macron touts a decade-long “Louvre New Renaissance” plan — about €700 million to modernize infrastructure, ease crowding and provides the Mona Lisa a devoted gallery by 2031. For staff on the ground, the aid has felt slower than the stress.
What we all know — and don’t
Forensic groups are analyzing the positioning of the crime and adjoining entry factors whereas a full stock is taken, authorities stated. Officers have described the haul as of “inestimable” historic worth.
Restoration might show troublesome. “It’s unlikely these jewels will ever be seen again,” stated Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds. “Professional crews often break down and re-cut large, recognizable stones to evade detection, effectively erasing their provenance.”
The Louvre closed for the remainder of Sunday as police sealed gates, cleared courtyards and shut close by streets alongside the Seine.
Key questions nonetheless unanswered are how many individuals took half within the theft and whether or not they had inside help, authorities stated. In line with French media, there have been 4 perpetrators: two dressed as building staff in yellow security vests on the raise, and two every on a scooter.
Investigators are reviewing CCTV from the Denon wing and the riverfront, inspecting the basket raise used to achieve the gallery and interviewing workers who have been on web site when the museum opened, authorities stated.
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Related Press author Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
Initially Printed: October 19, 2025 at 7:32 AM PDT
