re <<interesting>> ... indubitably, France appears to be open for looting, open season demonstrated
Movie material if dramatised with embellishment and backed w/ ... well ... back-story
bloomberg.com
France’s Louvre Struck by Thieves in Daring Daytime Jewel Heist
French police officers stand in front of the Louvre Museum after the robbery, in Paris on Oct. 19.
Photographer: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
By Claudia Cohen
October 19, 2025 at 5:23 PM GMT+8
Updated on
October 20, 2025 at 2:31 AM GMT+8
Takeaways by Bloomberg AI
- The Louvre museum in Paris was shut on Sunday after several pieces of invaluable jewelry were stolen in a brazen robbery.
- Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that "jewelry that has historical and priceless value" was taken and that the perpetrators used a power tool to cut windows and a furniture elevator to enter the museum.
- Eight objects of "inestimable heritage value" were stolen, including a tiara, a sapphire necklace, and an emerald necklace, with French President Emmanuel Macron pledging that the stolen objects would be recovered and the perpetrators brought to justice.
The world-renowned Louvre museum in Paris was shut on Sunday after several pieces of invaluable jewelry were stolen in a brazen robbery.
Speaking to France Inter radio station on Sunday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that several individuals entered the Louvre that morning during what he called a “major robbery” that lasted minutes. According to the former Paris police chief, it was “clearly a team that had done their homework” as the windows were cut with a power tool. The robbers are suspected to have used a furniture elevator to enter the Louvre Museum.
“Jewelry that has historical and priceless value” was taken, Nunez said. “We are working hard at the moment to find the perpetrators.” No one was injured, he added.
Culture Minister Rachida Dati later told TF1 that the gang broke into the Apollon Gallery — a sumptuous room on the first floor of the Petite Galerie that has housed the French crown jewels since 1887 — and that a piece of jewelry was recovered during the escape.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office announced an investigation into organized theft and criminal conspiracy.
According to a statement late Sunday by the Ministry of Culture, eight objects of “inestimable heritage value” were stolen. The artifacts were: a tiara, a sapphire necklace and sapphire earrings from the collection of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense; an emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings belonging to Marie-Louise; a brooch known as a “reliquary brooch”; and a tiara and a large corsage bow belonging to Empress Eugénie.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the theft “an attack on a heritage we cherish because it is our history.” He pledged in a post on X that the stolen objects would be recovered and the perpetrators brought to justice.
Forensics officers examine the cut window and balcony of the gallery crime scene.Photographer: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images
Alarms located on the exterior window of the Apollon Gallery and on the two display cases concerned were triggered, the ministry said. At the time of the break-in, which was “particularly quick and violent,” five museum security guards in the gallery and adjacent areas immediately intervened, it added.
The criminals fled, leaving behind their equipment and one of the stolen objects — namely Empress Eugénie’s crown made of 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, which is currently being examined.
A global symbol of French culture, the Louvre is one of the most heavily guarded places in the capital. Despite its security, the museum has at times been breached, most famously in 1911 when Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen. Other attempts targeted works including Eugene Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, as well as Gustave Courbet’s The Wave.
According to Nunez, three or four thieves arrived near the museum on powerful TMax scooters on Sunday morning around 9:30 a.m. The perpetrators fled the scene and are still being sought, the minister said.
Police officers guard the furniture elevator used by robbers to enter the Louvre.Photographer: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images
The incident is likely to increase scrutiny on security at France’s museums and cultural institutions. Just last month, thieves broke into Paris’s Natural History Museum, stealing rare gold nuggets worth an estimated €600,000 ($702,600) as bullion prices surged, according to French newspaper reports.
Macron this year unveiled an ambitious 10-year “Renaissance” project to renovate the Louvre, which included plans to secure the museum’s premises. The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world with about 9 million visitors per year, and often plays host to events including fashion shows and charity dinners.
“The vulnerability of museums is a long-standing issue,” Dati said. “These museums must be adapted to new forms of crime.” |
