The daylight heist about 30 minutes after opening, with visitors already inside, was among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory and comes as staff complained that crowding and thin staffing are straining security.<\/p>\n
The theft unfolded just 250m from the Mona Lisa, in what French culture minister Rachida Dati described as a professional \u201cfour-minute operation.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760905749_336_police-officers-look-for-clues-by-a-basket-lift-used-by-thie-SQDKP3H32RENTJSYGDYPGRUC2E.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Police officers look for clues by a basket lift used by thieves Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025 at the Louvre museum in Paris (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
One object was later found outside the museum, Dati said. <\/p>\n
French media identified it as the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III\u2019s wife, Empress Eug\u00e9nie, containing more than 1300 diamonds. It was reportedly recovered broken.<\/p>\n
Images from the scene showed confused tourists being steered out of the glass pyramid and adjoining courtyards as officers closed nearby streets along the Seine. <\/p>\n
No one was hurt.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760905750_865_a-basket-lift-used-by-thieves-is-seen-at-the-louvre-museum-s-3VSZQJN3NBBBHA5G3LJLTEPLVE.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A basket lift used by thieves is seen at the Louvre museum Sunday Oct.19, 2025 in Paris. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Also visible was a lift braced to the Seine-facing facade near a construction zone, since removed \u2014 the thieves\u2019 entry point and, observers said, a striking vulnerability for a palace-museum.<\/p>\n
A museum already under strain<\/p>\n
Around 9.30am (Paris time), several intruders forced a window, cut panes with a disc cutter and went straight for the vitrines, officials said. <\/p>\n
Interior minister Laurent Nunez said the crew entered from outside using a basket lift.<\/p>\n
Their target was the gilded Apollon Gallery \u2014 where the royal collection and the Crown Diamonds are displayed, including the Regent, the Sancy and the Hortensia.<\/p>\n
Interior Minister Laurent Nu\u00f1ez said thieves broke into two display cases and fled on scooters. <\/p>\n
Among nine pieces reportedly taken were a parure with matching necklace and earrings, a brooch and two crowns \u2014 an imperial suite prized for 19th-century craftsmanship and provenance, French media reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a major robbery,\u201d Nu\u00f1ez said, noting that security measures at the Louvre had been strengthened in recent years and would be reinforced further as part of the museum\u2019s upcoming overhaul plan.<\/p>\n
The thieves are believed to have approached via the riverfront facade, where construction is underway, used a freight elevator to reach the hall with a 23-item collection, according to French media.<\/p>\n
The Louvre closed for the rest of Sunday for the forensic investigation to begin as police sealed gates, cleared courtyards and shut nearby streets along the Seine.<\/p>\n
Daylight robberies during public hours are rare. <\/p>\n
Pulling one off inside the Louvre \u2014 with visitors present \u2014 ranks among Europe\u2019s most audacious in recent history, and at least since Dresden\u2019s Green Vault museum in 2019.<\/p>\n
It also collides with a deeper tension the Louvre has struggled to resolve: swelling crowds and stretched staff. <\/p>\n
The museum delayed opening during a June staff walkout over overcrowding and chronic understaffing. <\/p>\n
Unions say mass tourism leaves too few eyes on too many rooms and creates pressure points where construction zones, freight routes and visitor flows meet.<\/p>\n
Security around marquee works remains tight \u2014 the Mona Lisa sits behind bulletproof glass in a climate-controlled case \u2014 but the theft also underscored that protections are not uniformly as robust across the museum\u2019s more than 33,000 objects.<\/p>\n
The theft is a fresh embarrassment for a museum already under scrutiny.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can they ride a lift to a window and take jewels in the middle of the day?\u201d said Magali Cunel, a French teacher from near Lyon. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just unbelievable that a museum this famous can have such obvious security gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Louvre has a long history of thefts and attempted robberies. <\/p>\n
The most famous came in 1911, when the Mona Lisa vanished from its frame, stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia and recovered two years later in Florence. <\/p>\n
Another notorious episode came in 1956, when a visitor hurled a stone at her world-famous smile, chipping paint near her left elbow and hastening the move to display the work behind protective glass.<\/p>\n
Today, the former royal palace holds a roll call of civilisation: Leonardo\u2019s Mona Lisa; the armless serenity of the Venus de Milo; the Winged Victory of Samothrace, wind-lashed on the Daru staircase; the Code of Hammurabi\u2019s carved laws; Delacroix\u2019s Liberty Leading the People; G\u00e9ricault\u2019s The Raft of the Medusa. <\/p>\n
The objects \u2014 from Mesopotamia, Egypt and the classical world to Europe\u2019s masters \u2014 draw a daily tide of up to 30,000 visitors even as investigators now begin to sweep those gilded corridors for clues.<\/p>\n
Politics at the door<\/p>\n
The heist spilled instantly into politics. Far-right leader Jordan Bardella used it to attack president Emmanuel Macron, weakened at home and facing a fractured parliament.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Louvre is a global symbol of our culture,\u201d Bardella wrote on X. \u201cThis robbery, which allowed thieves to steal jewels from the French Crown, is an unbearable humiliation for our country. How far will the decay of the state go?\u201d<\/p>\n
The criticism lands as Macron touts a decade-long \u201cLouvre New Renaissance\u201d plan \u2014 about \u20ac700 million to modernise infrastructure, ease crowding and give the Mona Lisa a dedicated gallery by 2031. <\/p>\n
For workers on the floor, the relief has felt slower than the pressure.<\/p>\n
What we know \u2014 and don’t<\/p>\n
Forensic teams are examining the site of the crime and adjoining access points while a full inventory is taken, authorities said. <\/p>\n
Officials have described the haul as of \u201cinestimable\u201d historical value.<\/p>\n
Recovery may prove difficult. \u201cIt\u2019s unlikely these jewels will ever be seen again,\u201d said Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds. <\/p>\n
\u201cProfessional crews often break down and re-cut large, recognisable stones to evade detection, effectively erasing their provenance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Key questions still unanswered are how many people took part in the theft and whether they had inside assistance, authorities said. <\/p>\n
According to French media, there were four perpetrators: two dressed as construction workers in yellow safety vests on the lift, and two each on a scooter.<\/p>\n
Investigators are reviewing CCTV from the Denon wing and the riverfront, inspecting the basket lift used to reach the gallery and interviewing staff who were on site when the museum opened, authorities said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a minutes-long strike inside the world\u2019s most-visited museum, thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre’s facade,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,67,501,156,111,139,69,1745],"class_list":["post-88705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}