FRANCE, Paris, Robbery at the Louve, Oct 19, 2025

[Inthedetails]

they made their escape on ... a... scooter? that is hilarious.

Reminds me of the wheelchair chase scene in the Mr. Bean movie, Johnny English (the only chase scene I've ever liked, lol).

 

[Sundog]

MSN

Everything to Know About the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery, the Site of the Jewelry Heist

Birds continued their Sunday morning patter as the window was forced open with the use of a saw, and a reported two to three people entered, took a freight elevator to the second floor, smashed displays, grabbed the jewels (nine pieces from a 23-piece collection associated with Napoleon and the Empress, whose crown was later found), and fled the same way they’d come. “It was among the highest-profile museum thefts in recent memory,” reported the AP, ranking as one of “Europe’s most audacious since Dresden’s Green Vault museum in 2019, and the most serious in France in more than a decade.”

EBM

 

[Sundog]

MSN

When art imitates life, and then life imitates a heist film​

As the Associated Press reported, the robbery took place Sunday morning just steps from the Mona Lisa. The stolen items included sapphire and emerald sets once worn by Napoleon’s wives and Empress Eugénie’s diamond corsage brooch. One piece — Eugénie’s emerald crown — was later found outside the museum, broken. French Culture Minister Rachida Dati called it a “professional four-minute operation.”

No one was injured, but the embarrassment runs deep. The Louvre, already under fire for overcrowding and staff shortages, is now confronting how a “daylight heist” could unfold inside the world’s most famous museum in Paris.

For pop culture fans, though, the plot feels familiar. The pilot episode of Netflix’s original show Lupin centers around a Louvre jewel robbery, a modern French TV show inspired by Maurice Leblanc’s gentleman thief. In Ocean’s 8, an all-female crew lifts diamonds at the Met Gala. From The Thomas Crown Affair to Inside Man, audiences adore the art of the steal.

 

[LadyL]

So they broke into the Louvre and had at least a few minutes inside, maybe up to 6 or 7, without being detected/approached by guards in the museum. That is interesting to me. I know it's a huge museum.

Seems amazing to me that they could scale the ladder to the building, break into the window, enter the museum, break into the area where the jewels were being kept and no one was outside waiting on them when they came out. Are there no alarm systems and outside guards? I would think that a museum with that broad collection of rare jewels and art would have a state of the art security system. These thieves knew the vulnerable areas. I bet we will also have more photos of them, someone arranged for the truck and ladder, the scooters...Crazy!

Chief prosecutor Laure Beccuau told BFM that the men were a 'strike team' who threatened museum guards with the angle grinders which they used to cut the glass booths.

Though Ms Beccuau confirmed the Louvre's alarms were functioning at the time, she said there remains questions over whether it sounded in the gallery when the theft was taking place.

Moment 'thief in a hi-viz' breaks into glass cabinet at Louvre

A gang of several 'highly organised criminals' arrived outside the world's most visited museum at around 9.30am local time on Sunday while thousands of tourists enjoyed a day out in Paris.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[LadyL]

imagine the person commissioning this theft - they can never sell it or display it - only keep it in a hidden room

 

[Charlot123]

Additionally, from same link:

It comes just weeks after thieves stole several gold nuggets from Paris’ Natural History Museum.

Sorry, do Paris museums have cameras? Ladt time i have been to Louvre, all halls had museum caretakers. Any possibility of an inside helper?

On the other hand, why would they leave a necklace, even broken? (Some museums have replicas on display. The thieves might know more about the gems then.)

I hope French police is handling the broken necklace and all the stuff the thieves left in gloves. Also, remembering an old Japanese case...are there any fibers left on the glass through which they got inside?

JMO, these things were ordered, and probably, via some known antiques dealer. It might be kept in a freeport now. Luxembourg, Geneve or somewhere in UK. I don't know if they have any in France. This is an interesting history.

Behind Closed Doors: A Look At Freeports - Center for Art Law

By Talia Berniker. In September 2020, Arcis, the first freeport in New York City announced its closing after being open for just two years, and that clients had until October 31, 2020 to retrieve artworks stored at the Harlem storing facilities.[1] While the reasons for the closing of this...

itsartlaw.org