Power tool-wielding thieves flee Louvre with ‘priceless’ jewellery

PARIS – Thieves wielding power tools scaled a furniture hoist outside the Louvre to make off with priceless jewellery from the world-renowned museum on Oct 19, taking just seven minutes for the brazen, broad-daylight heist, sources and officials said.

The hunt was still on for the culprits, whom officials said are experienced and did not hurt anyone in the spectacular theft.

France’s Culture Minister, Ms Rachida Dati, said one of the stolen items was found near the museum.

The theft – the latest to target a French museum in recent months – forced the closure for the rest of the day of the Louvre, home to some of the world’s most famous artworks, including the Mona Lisa.

Armed soldiers patrolled the landmark’s esplanade, around the famed glass pyramid serving as its main entrance, while police teams were seen going inside.

Evacuated visitors, tourists and passers-by were kept at a distance behind police tape, while roads alongside the museum were closed off.

“Please, don’t waste your time. Just go home and get a refund from the website,” one museum worker told a visitor barred from entering.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said three of four thieves had used the furniture hoist to steal “priceless” goods from two displays in the museum’s Gallerie d’Apollon (Apollo’s Gallery).

It was not immediately clear what items were stolen from the gilded gallery, which is home to the French crown jewels.

Pieces on display in the targeted gallery include three historical diamonds – the Regent, the Sancy and the Hortensia – as well as an emerald and diamond necklace that Napoleon gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise, it said.

The thieves arrived between 9.30am (3.30pm Singapore time) and 9.40am for their burglary, a source following the case said.

The museum opened to the public at 9am.

A separate police source said the thieves had drawn up on a scooter armed with angle grinders and used the hoist – an extendible ladder used to move furniture – to reach the room they were targeting.

The brazen heist happened just 800m from Paris police headquarters.

The Louvre said it was closing for the day “for exceptional reasons”. It did not immediately mention the theft.

Contacted by AFP, the Louvre did not wish to immediately provide further comment.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said it had opened an investigation and the value of the loot was still being estimated.

The Louvre used to be the seat of French kings, until Louis XIV abandoned it for Versailles in the late 1600s.

It is the world’s most visited museum, welcoming nine million people to its extensive hallways and galleries in 2024.

Louis XIV commissioned the Gallerie d’Apollon himself. It later served as a model for the Hall of Mirrors at the Chateau de Versailles.

In 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. It was recovered months later and today sits behind theft- and vandal-proof glass.

Several French museums have recently been targeted.

In September, thieves

, making off with gold samples worth €600,000 (S$905,640).

They used an angle grinder and a blow torch to steal the native gold, a metal alloy containing gold and silver in their natural unrefined form.

In November 2024, four thieves

in broad daylight, breaking into a display case with axes and baseball bats.

They snuck into the Cognacq-Jay museum wearing gloves, hoods and helmets, striking in full view of other visitors to the museum.

French President Emmanuel Macron in January pledged that the Louvre would be “redesigned, restored and enlarged” after its director voiced alarm

.

He said he hoped that the works could help increase the annual number of visitors to 12 million. AFP

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