It was just after sunrise on October 19, 2025, when a team of thieves pulled off one of the most brazen museum heists in recent memory at Paris’s famed Louvre. In less than eight minutes, they made off with eight priceless pieces of the French crown jewels—valued at an eye-watering $102 million—leaving behind a shaken institution, a damaged crown, and a storm of criticism over security lapses that some say were years in the making.
The elaborate robbery, which unfolded in the museum’s gilded Apollo Gallery, has since become the talk of France and the art world. According to ABC News, the thieves arrived in a stolen truck fitted with a cherry picker, which they used to reach a second-floor window. Dressed as construction workers, they cut through the window with angle grinders, quickly bypassed the museum’s alarms, and smashed open the reinforced glass display cases. Within minutes, they had seized crowns, necklaces, earrings, and a diamond-encrusted brooch—leaving behind only Empress Eugénie’s diamond-studded crown, found damaged but salvageable outside the museum.
As the Paris prosecutor’s office raced against a 96-hour deadline to charge or release two French nationals arrested in connection with the heist, the incident ignited fierce debate about the Louvre’s ability to protect its treasures. Laurent Lafon, president of France’s Senate Culture Committee, minced no words in his assessment: “We have a security system that does not meet what we would expect from a museum,” he told reporters outside the Louvre. “The security equipment was not suitable for a museum worthy of the 21st century and for such a unique site for France. It is our flagship institution; it must be exemplary, and today, we cannot describe the security conditions as exemplary.”
This wasn’t the first warning. In a twist that reads almost like a Hollywood script, David Desclos—a reformed bank robber turned comedian—claimed he had flagged the Apollo Gallery’s vulnerabilities years earlier. In an interview with the Associated Press, Desclos recalled being invited by the Louvre in 2020 to participate in a podcast about a historic 1792 theft. After the recording, he privately warned a senior museum official about the risks posed by the gallery’s streetside windows and the display cases. “Have you seen those windows? They’re a piece of cake. You can imagine anything—people in disguise, slipping in through the windows,” Desclos said. “Through the windows—even from the roofs—there are plenty of ways in.”
Desclos, who once specialized in neutralizing alarm systems, told AP that he avoided spelling out the vulnerabilities on air, fearing it would inspire copycats. But he was clear about the risks: “Exactly what I had predicted. They came by the windows… they came, they took, and they left.” He also criticized a 2019 overhaul of the Apollo Gallery’s display cases, arguing that the new design left jewels “within arm’s reach,” making them easier targets for burglars. The Louvre, for its part, has defended the new vitrines, insisting they meet modern security standards.
Investigators, meanwhile, have been piecing together how the meticulously planned heist was executed. According to the Paris police, the thieves used power tools to cut into the glass cases after entering through the window. The entire operation took just seven minutes—a fact that Desclos, with his criminal expertise, found unsurprising. “Do it in broad daylight, at opening time—that disables the first alarm layer… You know you’ve got five to seven minutes before police arrive,” he explained. The choreography of such a crime, he suggested, relies on rehearsal, timing, and muscle memory.
Authorities quickly zeroed in on two suspects, both in their 30s from the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis. As ABC News reported, one was arrested at Charles de Gaulle Airport while attempting to board a flight to Algeria; the other was apprehended as he prepared to travel to Mali. Both men, who hold dual citizenship—one French and Algerian, the other French and Malian—were already known to police for previous burglaries. Investigators matched trace DNA evidence from a helmet left at the scene to one of the suspects, allowing for targeted surveillance and the swift arrests. The Paris prosecutor had until Wednesday, October 29, to formally charge or release the men, while the hunt for at least two additional perpetrators stretched into its tenth day.
The investigation has also raised the specter of an inside job. As French Culture Minister Rachida Dati told ABC News, “They knew exactly where they were going. It looks like something very organized and very professional.” Police are now probing whether someone inside the Louvre may have provided information or assistance to the thieves.
The repercussions of the heist have rippled far beyond the museum’s walls. Laurence des Cars, president and director of the Louvre, described the theft as “an immense wound that has been inflicted on us” during her testimony before the Senate Culture Committee. She insisted that all alarms and video cameras had functioned properly but conceded a critical weakness: the only camera outside the Apollo Gallery faced west, leaving the targeted window unmonitored. “The weakness of the Louvre is its perimeter security, which has been a problem for a long time… certainly due to underinvestment,” des Cars told lawmakers. She also pointed to the ongoing “Grand Louvre renovation project,” which began 40 years ago but has only reached half the museum, as a contributing factor to the security gaps.
In the wake of the theft, remaining pieces of the French crown jewels were reportedly whisked away to the Banque de France’s deep vaults, joining national gold reserves and Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, according to French media cited by AP. Desclos, ever the pragmatist, argued that originals should remain in such secure locations, with replicas displayed for the public. “There is 90–95% chance the jewels will be dismantled and stone by stone put in block,” he said, draining any lingering glamour from the crime.
The Louvre’s security woes are not new. In June 2025, a spontaneous staff strike—including security personnel—forced the museum to close for a day, as workers protested chronic understaffing and overwhelming crowds. The incident left thousands of ticketed visitors stranded under architect I.M. Pei’s iconic glass pyramid and underscored the strains facing one of the world’s most visited museums.
As the French Senate prepared to hear from Paris Police Chief Patrice Faure about the broader threats highlighted by the theft, the Louvre faced a reckoning. The heist exposed not only technical vulnerabilities but also deeper questions about priorities and investment in cultural heritage. “Numerous improvements need to be made,” Lafon declared, “to correct flaws that enabled a team of thieves to steal precious pieces of the French crown jewels and other treasures once belonging to Emperor Napoleon and his wife.”
The clock may be ticking on the investigation, but for the Louvre—and for France—the legacy of this theft will linger, prompting urgent debate about how best to protect the nation’s treasures from those who would snatch them away in the blink of an eye.