Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
In a heist that has stunned France and sent shockwaves through the international art world, a gang of highly organized criminals pulled off an audacious daylight robbery at the Louvre Museum, making off with a collection of priceless Napoleonic jewels in just seven minutes.
The theft occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, as thousands of tourists wandered through the world’s most visited museum. Exploiting ongoing construction work and recent concerns over understaffing, the group used a sophisticated setup to break into the Apollo Gallery home to France’s historic crown jewels and vanished with nine of the collection’s most valuable items, including the famed Eugénie Crown, reportedly worth over £100 million.
A Heist Straight From a Film Script
According to French authorities, the gang arrived on scooters and parked near the Seine-facing side of the Louvre, where the museum was undergoing renovations. From a flatbed truck, they deployed an industrial freight elevator resembling a large ladder and propped it against the 17th-century gallery wall.
Clad in masks and armed with angle grinders, they climbed the structure, cut through a reinforced window, and accessed the Salle 705 exhibition room a treasure trove of imperial artifacts linked to Napoleon Bonaparte, Empress Joséphine, and other French monarchs.
Within seven minutes, they had smashed two display cases and made off with nine jewels from the 23-piece Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte collection. Among the stolen items was a priceless necklace, a brooch, and the Eugénie Crown, once worn by Napoleon III’s consort. The crown was later found discarded below a window, severely damaged.
By 9:40 a.m., the thieves had fled on scooters, disappearing into the Paris streets just as police arrived. Officers found the freight elevator still propped against the wall and an angle grinder left in the truck. Panic quickly spread throughout the Louvre as visitors were evacuated and the museum was shut down for the remainder of the day.
Museum Security Under Scrutiny
The Louvre’s vulnerability had been a growing concern. Just weeks prior, staff staged a protest over chronic understaffing and overcrowding, warning that inadequate security could lead to disaster. That warning has now become reality.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed that an investigation into “theft and criminal conspiracy” had been launched. The case is being handled by the Banditism Repression Brigade (BRB) and the Central Office for Combating Trafficking in Cultural Property elite units tasked with handling high-level art crimes.
“It was necessary to close the Louvre to preserve evidence and allow investigators to work calmly,” Nuñez stated. “There is great vulnerability in our museums, and everything is being done to find those responsible. I remain hopeful.”
The busy Quai François-Mitterrand, which runs alongside the museum, was cordoned off for much of Sunday as forensic teams combed through the scene.
President Emmanuel Macron has been briefed on the situation, while France’s Culture Minister, Rachida Dati, visited the site to coordinate with law enforcement and museum staff. “Thankfully, no one was hurt,” Dati said, “but this is a painful blow to our cultural heritage.”
A History of Iconic Thefts
This is not the first time the Louvre has fallen victim to art thieves. In 1911, the museum endured its most notorious theft when the Mona Lisa was stolen by an employee, Vincenzo Peruggia, who hid in a cupboard overnight. The painting was recovered two years later in Florence.
The latest theft, however, is the most significant since 1998, when Camille Corot’s Le Chemin de Sèvres disappeared unnoticed and has never been recovered.
While art thefts are not uncommon in Paris, the scale, precision, and boldness of Sunday’s operation have raised fresh concerns about the security of the city’s prized cultural institutions.
In November 2024, thieves armed with axes raided the Musée Cognacq-Jay, stealing miniature treasures including two snuffboxes loaned by the British Royal Collection. And in 2010, works by Picasso and Matisse worth nearly £100 million vanished from the Paris Museum of Modern Art, in a case that remains infamous.
The Fate of the Stolen Jewels
Experts say it is unlikely the jewels will surface on the black market due to their uniqueness and historical significance. “You can’t just sell the Eugénie Crown at an auction house,” said art historian Josie Goodbody. “It will either be broken down and the stones sold separately, or it will disappear into a private collection, commissioned by someone wealthy enough to keep it hidden forever.”
Many suspect the raid was orchestrated by an international collector or criminal syndicate. Police are now racing against time to identify the perpetrators and recover the missing pieces before they are dismantled or smuggled out of the country.
Despite numerous pledges to bolster security at French museums, this theft serves as a sobering reminder of their continued vulnerability even at the heart of one of the world’s most prestigious institutions.
As Paris reels from the audacity of the heist, one thing is clear: recovering the stolen jewels is not just a matter of justice it’s a mission to reclaim a piece of France’s cultural soul.
