In a scene that could have been plucked straight from a heist thriller, the Louvre Museum in Paris—home to the Mona Lisa and countless treasures of world heritage—became the target of a meticulously executed daylight robbery on October 19, 2025. As the city awoke to a crisp Sunday morning, a gang of highly organized thieves, posing as workmen, pulled off a seven-minute raid that left the art world reeling and raised urgent questions about the security of Europe’s most storied cultural institutions.
According to the Daily Mail and The Mirror, the criminals struck just as museum staff prepared to open the doors to throngs of eager visitors at around 9:30am. The gang’s plan was as bold as it was precise: arriving on Yamaha Tmax scooters, two thieves joined two accomplices waiting in a flat-bed truck equipped with a freight elevator and an extendable ladder. Dressed in helmets and high-visibility vests, they blended in with legitimate construction workers on the Seine River side of the Louvre, where renovations were underway.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the operation as the work of a “highly organised criminal gang.” “The window was cut through, using a hand-held disc cutter,” Nuñez told reporters, emphasizing the professionalism and speed of the raid. Chainsaws were then deployed to slice open display cabinets in the museum’s Apollo Gallery, a space originally opened by King Louis XIV in the 17th century and famed for its dazzling collection of royal jewels.
Within seven minutes, the thieves made off with nine priceless pieces, including the legendary Eugénie Crown—adorned with thousands of diamonds and emeralds—a necklace, a brooch, emerald earrings, and another crown. The crown, originally worn by Empress Eugénie de Montijo in the 19th century and valued in the tens of millions of dollars, was found broken and discarded below the window, a stark symbol of both the criminals’ haste and the gravity of the loss. Two of the stolen pieces were later recovered, damaged after being dropped during the thieves’ escape.
The heist triggered an immediate and dramatic response. Thousands of tourists, many of whom had only just entered the world-famous museum, found themselves caught in a hurried evacuation. Police and forensics teams swarmed the site, inspecting the freight elevator and the smashed window while cordoning off the area to preserve crucial evidence. “It was necessary to close the Louvre to visitors, primarily to preserve traces and clues so that investigators could work calmly. The evacuation of the public took place without incident,” said Nuñez, echoing statements from museum officials and the French Ministry of Culture.
Rachida Dati, France’s Culture Minister, was on site alongside police and museum staff. She reassured the public, stating, “Nobody was hurt during the raids,” and confirmed that a criminal inquiry was already underway. The Banditism Repression Brigade of the Judicial Police (BRB) and the Central Office for Combating Trafficking in Cultural Property are leading the investigation, which is now focused on tracking down the gang and recovering the stolen artifacts.
Former President François Hollande weighed in, calling the robbery a “serious act” and an “attack on our heritage,” as reported by Le Parisien. The Louvre, which welcomed nearly nine million visitors in 2024—80% of whom were foreigners—has long been a symbol of French culture and history. The theft has reignited debate over the vulnerability of major art institutions, with Nuñez acknowledging, “We can’t prevent everything. There is great vulnerability in French museums. Everything is being done to ensure we find the perpetrators as quickly as possible, and I’m hopeful.”
The Apollo Gallery, the thieves’ target, is no stranger to history or drama. After Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine were crowned Emperor and Empress of France in 1804, they amassed one of the most sumptuous jewelry collections ever known. Many of the pieces on display at the Louvre were themselves spoils of revolution and empire, making the latest theft a bitter echo of the past. The gallery also houses the Regent diamond, often described as the most beautiful diamond in the world, which, curiously, was left untouched during the raid.
For all their bravado, the gang’s prospects for profiting from the stolen treasures are slim. As numerous experts cited by the Daily Mail and The Mirror pointed out, such unique historical pieces are nearly impossible to sell on the black market. “Those stealing historical art pieces or jewellery often work for dealers who will be unable to sell the priceless items on the black market. Instead, the pieces will be kept hidden, and enjoyed by the master criminal who commissioned the raid,” an investigating source told the Daily Mail. The fate of the Eugénie Crown and its companions may be to languish in obscurity, far from the adoring crowds and scholarly attention they once received.
The Louvre is no stranger to spectacular thefts. The most infamous came in 1911, when Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa vanished, only to be recovered two years later in Italy. More recently, a spate of high-profile art crimes has rocked Paris: in November 2024, axe-wielding thieves raided the Musée Cognacq-Jay, making off with prized snuffboxes, including two on loan from the British Crown. In 2010, works by Picasso and Matisse disappeared from the Paris Museum of Modern Art, culminating in convictions and lengthy prison sentences for the culprits years later.
Despite repeated pledges by French authorities to bolster security, the latest Louvre heist has exposed persistent weaknesses. The gang’s use of construction disguises, heavy tools, and a freight elevator highlights just how vulnerable even the most celebrated museums can be to determined criminals. Nuñez noted that the gang had clearly “been watching the site before the operation,” and that CCTV footage was under review. One of the mopeds used in the escape was later found abandoned nearby, suggesting the thieves had planned their exit as carefully as their entry.
The incident has also captured the public’s imagination, with some comparing it to the opening scene of the hit Netflix series Lupin, itself inspired by the fictional gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. Yet for museum staff, historians, and art lovers around the world, the loss is all too real. As investigators comb through evidence and international law enforcement agencies are alerted, the hope remains that the stolen jewels will one day return to their rightful place in the Louvre’s glittering halls.
For now, though, the empty cases in the Apollo Gallery serve as a stark reminder: even in the heart of Paris, history is never entirely safe from those who would steal it away.