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

[PrairieWind]

Could they have wanted to set fire to the truck to keep attention on THAT, allowing them to escape, rather than because they wanted to burn evidence? When there is a fire, that gets the active attention.

jmopinion

I wondered the same, the purpose of the fire was divert attention to the fire (which could spread) to delay pursuing them. But I also believe that lift will be a big clue to identifying the thieves. But they could also already be out of Europe by now.

I don't think the purpose of the robbery was to break up the stones and melt down the metals. I think these items were stolen for someone's collection OR to be ransom for something else. At least I hope so. It makes me sick to think that they are being melted down right now!

 

[StarryStarryNight]

This article first linked to by @vls12345 contains some of the most interesting information we have on this theft:

Everything we know about the Louvre jewellery heist

The world-famous museum in Paris is still closed on Monday after a masked gang raided one of its galleries.

www.bbc.com

The thieves brought the truck with the freight lift. ( I had originally thought they had taken advantage of construction equipment at the scene due to some type of work going on at the museum.) They apparently tried to set it ablaze before they left the scene, but were confronted by a museum staffer and fled on the scooters.
The thieves actually had a confrontation with guards once they got into the building and warded them off with the angle cutter. The guards then began the evacuation of visitors. (And presumably notified LE). There was a lot of confusion.
The thieves were methodical and calm as they broke into the display cases which held the jewels. They took certain pieces and left others from this particular collection. They may have been working on contract. I bet whoever dropped that most valuable crown is in hot water.
The alarm system in that section was either deactivated or broken and the cctv cameras were not working in one of the three rooms accessed by the thieves. Wow. What a coincidence!

I think the truck with the freight lift will probably be the best piece of evidence for LE.
The thieves were able to pull this off, but they were also pretty sloppy.

I’m guessing the museum guards are unarmed since they were kept at bay by an angle cutter.
Mindboggling lax security for a museum that houses such valuable items.
These thieves had to have had at least some knowledge of the museum’s security protocols to know they would not be aggressively challenged by anybody.
I realize it only took about seven minutes, but, by accounts, the museum itself was made aware fairly quickly, and my assumption would be the police were notified immediately also. Yet these crooks climb down a ladder and hop on scooters and nobody spots them getting away. That’s mindboggling too.
Epic fail by museum security and LE.

 

[StarryStarryNight]

I wondered the same, the purpose of the fire was divert attention to the fire (which could spread) to delay pursuing them. But I also believe that lift will be a big clue to identifying the thieves. But they could also already be out of Europe by now.

I don't think the purpose of the robbery was to break up the stones and melt down the metals. I think these items were stolen for someone's collection OR to be ransom for something else. At least I hope so. It makes me sick to think that they are being melted down right now!

I totally agree with you about this being a theft contracted by a collector.
If the thieves melt everything down and sell the gems individually, that would be no better than just robbing a jewelry store, so why take the extra risk.
I think it would be nearly impossible to shop them around complete without being found out.
It makes sense that they treasures would be sitting in somebody’s private collection right now, but people are crazy so who knows.

 

[bestill]

I agree with those posting that they believe this was a contracted collectors theft. Very specific items stolen. Would be interesting to be investigating to find a connection between the former owners, jewelry makers, specific collectors, etc...I bet high end jewelers have already been visited. They know their clientele. All jmo

 

[meanmaryjean]

Well, all I know is the Muppets have been REAL quiet lately...

The Great Muppet Caper (1981) ⭐ 7.1 | Adventure, Comedy, Crime

1h 37m | G

www.imdb.com

 

[Inthedetails]

Well, all I know is the Muppets have been REAL quiet lately...

The Great Muppet Caper (1981) ⭐ 7.1 | Adventure, Comedy, Crime

1h 37m | G

www.imdb.com

 

[bestill]

Stolen Louvre jewels were not privately insured, French government says

The French government will not be reimbursed for any losses related to the priceless jewels, according to experts.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Dotta]

From my country's MSM

"The Louvre theft was dubbed
the 'heist of the century',
and the Louvre's management
asked an Israeli business intelligence and consulting firm
for help in identifying the perpetrators
of Sunday's robbery at the Paris museum.

According to French media,
there were four perpetrators:
two disguised as construction workers wearing yellow safety vests,
and two others each with a scooter.

The robbery targeted a total of nine items, eight of which were stolen.
The thieves dropped a ninth item,
the crown of Napoleon III's wife, Empress Eugenie,
as they fled."

"Skok stulecia" na Luwr. W siedem minut skradziono biżuterię wartą majątek [WIDEO]

W minioną niedzielę doszło do zuchwałej kradzieży w Luwrze. Z Galerie d'Apollon skradziono osiem bezcennych klejnotów. Była wśród nich tiara cesarzowej Eugenii, ozdobiona 2 tys. diamentów oraz dwa ...

businessinsider.com.pl

 

[Dotta]

More from my country's MSM

"Media: Jewels were not insured.​

The jewels stolen from the Louvre were not insured
due to their priceless historical value,
French media report.

As the daily Le Parisien pointed out,
the eight jewels stolen from the museum on Sunday are State property
and the State bears responsibility for them.

As Le Figaro newspaper points out,
the jewels have 'National Collection Status',
meaning their care is defined by the Heritage Code
—a set of laws governing National Heritage.

This status means
the jewels cannot be legally sold, donated, or inherited,
even after a long period of time.

French Ministry of Culture:
'Such assets are not insured'.

Moreover,
the jewels were located in a museum.

The French Ministry of Culture explained that they do not insure these assets
because their costs are astronomical
and the risk of damage, however, is small.

Works of art are often insured when they are loaned to other institutions,
as this makes estimating the cost of such an arrangement much easier."

Kradzież w Luwrze. Media: Klejnoty nie były ubezpieczone

Klejnoty skradzione z Luwru nie były ubezpieczone z powodu ich bezcennej wartości historycznej - podają francuskie media. Jak zaznaczył dziennik "Le Parisien", osiem klejnotów, skradzionych w niedzielę z muzeum...

wiadomosci.wp.pl

 

[PrairieWind]

Just stunning. "We don't insure them because the costs would be astronomical" But apparantly the guards are not armed and were chased away by one man with a saw.

 

[Charlot123]

I totally agree with you about this being a theft contracted by a collector.
If the thieves melt everything down and sell the gems individually, that would be no better than just robbing a jewelry store, so why take the extra risk.
I think it would be nearly impossible to shop them around complete without being found out.
It makes sense that they treasures would be sitting in somebody’s private collection right now, but people are crazy so who knows.

There should be some gem/antique dealer involved. Also, someone knowing a lot about what is in Louvre expositions.

If I were to choose… Louvre has way more interesting things, but authentication of some might be problematic. With jewelry, it still much depends on the antiques dealer. So one has to be involved in the chain.

Regent diamond was untouched. Why? Options: 1) it was a replica on display, and whoever ordered the job, knew of it; 2) a diamond is valuable for its provenance. Recutting famous diamonds to better ones often takes off their value (see Graff buying and recutting Wittelsbach diamond. He now has a Graff diamond instead of the Wittelsbach one). Regent diamond is too well-known. Something to discuss.

The items that were stolen are not that recognizable. For many reasons, but mostly, for the time, 19th century. They have provenance, but there are many looking like them. “Expensive period jewelry”.

 

[Charlot123]

Just stunning. "We don't insure them because the costs would be astronomical" But apparantly the guards are not armed and were chased away by one man with a saw.

The cost would not be astronomical. Also, we don’t know if these were replicas or real items.

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1980712666252333092

"The jewels stolen by a 'highly organised gang' in the broad daylight seven-minute Louvre heist
are worth an estimated 88million euros
(£76million or $102million),
according to Paris' top prosecutor.

Ms Beccuau said the monetary estimate
does not include the items' historical value to France
as they all date from the country's 19th century royalty.

Around 100 investigators
are now involved in the major hunt for the suspects and the gems,
which were nabbed from the museum in broad daylight.

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed on Sunday:
'We will recover the works
and the perpetrators will be brought to justice'.

The tiara from the jewellery set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Horten that was made in Paris in the 19th century.

Empress Eugenie's tiara created by Alexandre-Gabriel Lemonnier in 1853.

An emerald necklace from the Marie-Louise set made by master jeweller François-Régnault Nitot in 1810.

The necklace from the sapphire jewellery set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense.
It was made in Paris between 1800 and 1835.

Empress Eugenie's brooch which contains 2,438 diamonds.

The reliquary brooch was created in 1855 by Paul-Alfred Bapst.

The Crown of Empress Eugénie was stolen
but found discarded and damaged shortly after the heist."

 

[Yesiamapirate]

How Louvre gang carried out France's most shocking theft - BBC News

A minute-by-minute look at the daring Louvre robbery, using maps, photos and video to unravel how one of the world’s most famous museums was breached.

www.bbc.co.uk

I am not sure if this was shared but it is a cool graphic story of what happened.

 

[PrairieWind]

The cost would not be astronomical. Also, we don’t know if these were replicas or real items.

I believe the Minister said they were not insured in part because their cost "was astronomical." So I was not quite correct. But, of course such premiums would be very high. Given what we see of security now, I would assume any insurance company would deem them "uninsurable" at this point. If insurance were provided, said insurer would dictate far more stringent security.

If these items are found to be replicas, then I guess the joke is on the thieves. But there would be catastrophic fallout for the Louvre as well.