Intensified Search Underway Following Theft at Paris' Louvre Museum

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Thieves in balaclavas broke into the Louvre museum in Paris, using a crane to smash an upstairs window, then stole priceless objects from an area that houses the French crown jewels before escaping on motorbikes, officials said.

The robbery on Sunday raises awkward questions about security at the museum, where officials had already sounded the alarm about lack of investment at a world-famous site, home to artworks such as the Mona Lisa, that welcomed 8.7 million visitors in 2024.

“The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our History,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on X.

“We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”

In a bold daylight heist, thieves struck around 9:30 am local time, just as the museum welcomed morning visitors. The incident took place at the renowned Galerie d’Apollon building, according to Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau during an interview with BFM TV.

The museum was promptly closed as French authorities launched an investigation into the daring robbery. The sudden closure left visitors disappointed while the police worked to gather evidence and secure the scene.

The meticulously planned robbery lasted between six to seven minutes and involved four individuals. Although they were unarmed, the thieves managed to intimidate the security personnel using angle grinders, Beccuau explained.

Alexandre Giquello, president of the Drouot auction house, revealed the heist’s significant impact, noting, “The crown alone is valued at several tens of millions of euros, yet remarkably, it is not the most significant piece stolen.” This statement underscores the immense value of the stolen items.

Beccuau said it was a mystery why the thieves did not steal the Regent diamond, which is housed in the Galerie d’Apollon and is estimated to be worth more than $92 million by Sotheby’s.

“I don’t have an explanation,” she said.

“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.”

Beccuau said one of the thieves was wearing a yellow reflective vest, which investigators have since recovered. She added that the robbers tried and failed to set fire to the crane, mounted on the back of a small truck, as they fled.

Interior minister Laurent Nunez said the probe had been entrusted to a specialised police unit that has a high success rate in cracking high-profile robberies.

Investigators were keeping all leads open, Beccuau said.

But she said it was likely the robbery was either commissioned by a collector, in which case there was a chance of recovering the pieces in a good state, or undertaken by thieves interested only in the valuable jewels and precious metals. She said foreign interference was not among the main hypotheses.

The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum, said on X it would remain closed for the day for “exceptional reasons”.

The Mona Lisa was stolen from the museum in 1911 in one of the most daring art thefts in history, in a heist involving a former employee. He was eventually caught and the painting was returned to the museum two years later.

Earlier this year, officials at the Louvre requested urgent help from the French government to restore and renovate the museum’s ageing exhibition halls and better protect its countless works of art.