In one of the boldest art crimes in recent memory, a team of professional thieves pulled off a daylight robbery at the Louvre in Paris, stealing a collection of jewels that once belonged to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
The sophisticated heist unfolded early Sunday morning, stunning security officials and sparking panic among tourists at the world’s most visited museum.
According to Paris media reports, the burglars used a construction lift and power tools to access the second-floor Apollon Gallery, which houses the museum’s famed collection of French crown jewels.
Investigators believe the crew employed an angle grinder to cut through a window before entering the building.
Witnesses said three masked individuals were seen on the balcony shortly before the break-in.
Authorities said the robbery took less than ten minutes. Between 9:30 and 9:40 a.m., the masked suspects smashed open glass display cases and fled the scene on two motor scooters.
Museum alarms blared as police rushed to the site, while startled visitors were escorted out of the galleries.
Reports indicate that nine pieces of priceless jewelry were stolen, including a brooch, a necklace, and a tiara.
“Beyond their market value, the items have inestimable heritage and historical value,” the French Interior Ministry said in a statement. Experts are still working to determine the total value of the loss.
One of the stolen items was recovered nearby. According to Le Parisien, a crown believed to have belonged to Napoleon’s wife, Empress Eugénie, was found damaged outside the gallery. Police suspect it may have been dropped during the chaotic getaway.
Investigators said the thieves attempted to destroy evidence by setting fire to the mechanical lift they used to enter the museum but failed to ignite it fully before fleeing.
The Ministry of Culture confirmed that alarms had been triggered on both the exterior window and the two high-security display cases inside the Apollo Gallery.
“The five museum agents, present in the room and in the adjacent spaces, immediately intervened” to alert authorities and evacuate visitors, the ministry said.
Officials confirmed that no one was injured and that no weapons were used during the theft.
The Louvre, home to the “Mona Lisa” and “Venus de Milo,” attracts nearly nine million visitors each year, averaging about 25,000 guests a day.
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Authorities are investigating whether the ongoing construction at the museum may have aided the thieves.
The area where the burglary occurred is currently under renovation, and police have not said whether the lift used in the heist was part of that project.
That detail could be crucial, as having access to such equipment would have significantly simplified their operation.
An investigator told local media that the suspects wore construction uniforms and hoods, blending in with nearby workers.
One member of the group reportedly acted as a lookout while the others broke through the display glass to retrieve the jewels.
Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said officials are exploring whether the theft was commissioned by a private collector.
“We’re looking at the hypothesis of organized crime,” Beccuau told BFM TV. “It could be professionals working on spec for a buyer.”
She added that if the jewels were stolen to fulfill a specific order, they might still be intact when recovered.
Authorities worry, however, that the robbers could melt down the jewelry to sell the raw gold and gems, effectively destroying their historical significance.
“The risk is that some of the diamonds could be sold at retail, which would make reconstituting the jewels very difficult,” a source told Le Parisien.
Beccuau added that the stolen items could also be used to launder money obtained through other criminal ventures.
“Nowadays, anything can be linked to drug trafficking, given the significant sums of money obtained from drug trafficking,” she said.
One mystery remains: the robbers ignored the Regent diamond, a 140-carat gem valued at more than $60 million, which was displayed in the same gallery.
“I don’t have an explanation,” Alexandre Giquello, president of the Drouot Auction House, told Reuters.
“It’ll only be when they’re in custody and face investigators that we’ll know what type of order they had and why they didn’t target that window.”
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said a specialized police unit with a strong track record in solving high-profile robberies is leading the investigation.
In another case of missing art, Spanish authorities are searching for a miniature Pablo Picasso painting that vanished earlier this month while in transit from Madrid to a museum in Granada.
The work, titled “Still Life With Guitar,” measures only five by four inches but is insured for $700,000, according to reports.
The small canvas was part of a collection traveling to the CajaGranada Cultural Center for an exhibit called “Still Life: The Eternity of the Inanimate.”
When museum staff opened the shipping crates on Monday, October 6, they discovered the Picasso was gone.
The van that transported the works had arrived that Friday after a four-hour trip from Madrid, but the drivers admitted to making an unscheduled overnight stop in the small town of Deifontes, just miles from their destination.
Detectives are now focusing on that stop as the likely point where the painting disappeared.
“It’s crazy,” said Arthur Brand, a well-known European art detective. “If you’re moving art this valuable, you don’t stop overnight after four hours. You deliver it immediately. Doing otherwise is extremely suspicious.”
The CajaGranada Foundation contacted Spain’s national police force after discovering the loss.
Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators reportedly shows nothing unusual at the museum over the weekend.
“An investigation is currently underway, and the investigation is attempting to determine when and where the painting disappeared,” Granada police said in a statement.
