In a daring heist that unfolded within just seven minutes, thieves targeted the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday morning. Using a basket lift, they accessed the building, forced open a window, shattered display cases, and made off with jewels described as having “inestimable value,” according to France’s Interior Minister. The incident occurred as tourists were already present inside the museum.

As the world’s most visited museum, the Louvre took the unusual step of closing its doors for the remainder of the day. Police quickly cordoned off the area, guiding visitors out while launching a thorough investigation into the theft.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati confirmed the robbery, stating on X that it took place shortly after the museum had opened. The Louvre attributed the closure to “exceptional reasons,” though no injuries were reported during the incident.

Details from the Interior Ministry revealed that the robbery occurred around 9:30 a.m. The culprits managed to break in through a window, snatch valuable jewels from display cases, and escape on two-wheelers. Authorities are now conducting forensic examinations and compiling a comprehensive inventory of the stolen items, which are said to hold immense historical significance. Both Minister Dati and Interior Minister Nuñez were present at the museum alongside its leadership.

Footage from the scene captured the confusion as tourists were evacuated from the iconic glass pyramid and the surrounding courtyards. Police officers promptly closed the iron gates and restricted access to nearby streets along the Seine River.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called it a “major robbery,” saying the intruders entered from the outside using a basket lift. He said on France Inter radio that the heist took seven minutes and the thieves used a disc cutter to slice through the panes. He said it was “manifestly a team that had done scouting.”

The heist occurred in the Galerie d’Apollon, a vaulted hall in the Denon wing that displays part of the French Crown Jewels beneath a ceiling painted by King Louis XIV’s court artist, according to the ministry.

French daily Le Parisien reported the thieves entered via the Seine-facing facade, where construction is underway, and used a freight elevator to reach the gallery. After breaking windows, they reportedly took nine pieces from the jewelry collection of Napoleon and the Empress. One stolen jewel was later found outside the museum, the paper reported, adding that the item was believed to be Empress Eugénie’s crown and that it had been broken.

Security and staffing at the Louvre in the spotlight

Security around the marquee works remains tight. The Mona Lisa is protected by bulletproof glass and a custom high-tech display system as part of broader anti-theft measures across the museum.

Staffing and protection have been flashpoints at the Louvre. The museum delayed opening during a June staff walkout over overcrowding and chronic understaffing. Unions have warned that mass tourism strains security and visitor management.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether staffing levels played any role in Sunday’s theft.

In January, President Emmanuel Macron announced a decade-long “Louvre New Renaissance” plan – roughly 700 million to modernize infrastructure, ease crowding, and give the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece its own dedicated gallery by 2031 – but workers say relief has been slow to reach the floor.

Other European museums have been robbed

The theft, less than half an hour after doors opened, echoes other recent European museum raids.

In 2019, thieves smashed vitrines in Dresden’s Green Vault and carried off diamond-studded royal jewels worth hundreds of millions of euros. In 2017, burglars at Berlin’s Bode Museum stole a 100-kilogram (220-pound) solid-gold coin. In 2010, a lone intruder slipped into Paris’s Museum of Modern Art and escaped with five paintings, including a Picasso.

The Louvre has a long history of thefts and attempted robberies. The most famous came in 1911, when the Mona Lisa vanished from its frame, stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a former worker who hid inside the museum and walked out with the painting under his coat. It was recovered two years later in Florence – an episode that helped make Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait the world’s best-known artwork.

Home to more than 33,000 works spanning antiquities, sculpture, and painting – from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the classical world to European masters – the Louvre’s star attractions include the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. The museum can draw up to 30,000 visitors a day.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.