After the high-profile robbery that occurred on October 19, the doors of the Louvre are still closed to visitors. The Paris prosecutor’s office is looking for four suspects. It is considering two main versions of the crime — money laundering or a contract robbery. They also suggest interference from abroad, but this hypothesis, according to investigators, is “not a priority.”
Museum employees fear the worst — that the stolen jewelry could be melted down and the precious stones sold separately. Experts note that if the jewelry was stolen on behalf of a private collector who plans to keep it in his own collection, there is a chance that the exhibits will be returned intact.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the incident “an attack on the cultural heritage of the nation” and promised that the state would make every effort to return the jewelry and punish the perpetrators.
According to the French Interior Ministry, on the morning of October 19, four robbers entered the museum from the side of the construction site. Two of them, dressed in yellow work vests, climbed onto a platform and sawed through a window with a circular saw. In this way, they reached the Apollo Gallery, where the French crown jewels are stored.
The attackers smashed the display cases and stole nine exhibits, then fled on scooters. One of the objects — the crown of Empress Eugenie, encrusted with 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds — was later found near the Louvre. The item is damaged, but can be restored. The thieves probably dropped it during their escape.
The French Interior Ministry reports that the operation lasted about seven minutes. Still, Culture Minister Rachida Dati specifies — no more than four. French media have already dubbed the incident the “heist of the century,” drawing attention to security concerns at Paris’s leading museums.
The exact value of the stolen items is unknown. French authorities have described them as “priceless,” but experts estimate the crown of Empress Eugenie alone at tens of millions of euros, and that’s not the most expensive of the missing artifacts.
Interestingly, the incident is reminiscent of a robbery in 1792, when thieves also entered the Louvre through a broken window. In addition, October 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Vincenzo Peruggi, the thief of the famous Mona Lisa, who stole the painting under his clothes in 1911.