Louvre Heist: Thieves Use Truck-Mounted Lift to Steal Over $100 Million in Jewels

In a bold heist that has left Paris reeling, thieves managed to breach the iconic Louvre Museum using an ingenious method. Reports indicate that the culprits employed a truck-mounted moving lift, commonly utilized by professional movers to elevate furniture into upper-story windows, to access the museum’s second floor. This clever approach was outlined by Laure Beccuau, the Paris prosecutor.

The criminals orchestrated their plan by posing as customers renting the lift for a relocation. When the equipment provider arrived to validate the job, the perpetrators threatened the individual, compelling them to relinquish control of the lift and vacate the premises, Beccuau revealed during a conversation with RTL radio, as detailed by The New York Times.

Surveillance footage and witness accounts suggest that the audacious burglars spent under four minutes inside the museum on a Sunday morning. They maneuvered the lift to the side of the Louvre facing the Seine, forced open a window, and shattered two display cases with remarkable efficiency.

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The thieves absconded with eight valuable artifacts, including a sapphire diadem, a necklace, and an earring from a historical set connected to 19th-century royalty, specifically Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense. The theft has sparked a nationwide outcry, drawing parallels to the emotional impact of the 2019 Notre-Dame cathedral fire.

Among the stolen items were also an emerald necklace and earrings belonging to Empress Marie-Louise, the second wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as a reliquary brooch. The criminals additionally seized a diamond diadem and an elaborate corsage-bow brooch belonging to Empress Eugénie, pieces noted for their exceptional imperial craftsmanship.

One piece — the emerald-set imperial crown of Empress Eugénie, with more than 1,300 diamonds — was later found outside the museum, damaged but recoverable.

Beccuau said the stolen items were valued at around $102.1 million and that the team investigating the heist has grown to 100 people. 

The pieces were not insured, which is not uncommon for state collections because of the prohibitive costs, the Times reported, citing France’s culture ministry. The ministry reportedly said that the state “acts as its own insurer” when works are in their usual place of conservation “given the cost of taking out insurance” and the fact that “the accident rate is low.”

Beccuau told local media that investigators believe the robbers may have been commissioned by a collector or were purely motivated by the value of the jewels and precious metals, Reuters reported.

“We’re looking at the hypothesis of organized crime,” Beccuau told BFMTV, noting that the thieves could be professionals operating on spec for a buyer.  

Beccuau added that if a collector did commission the heist, there is hope that the stolen pieces will remain intact and well-preserved until recovered, the outlet reported. If the thieves acted independently, they may have targeted the jewels for their potential use in laundering criminal proceeds.

“Nowadays, anything can be linked to drug trafficking, given the significant sums of money obtained from drug trafficking,” Beccuau said, according to Reuters.

Investigators are keeping all leads open, but foreign interference has reportedly been largely ruled out in the case.

The Sunday morning smash-and-grab unfolded just 270 yards from the “Mona Lisa.”

Prosecutors revealed Monday that a vest, bottle of liquid and equipment left behind at the scene are now being examined. 

The Louvre reopened Wednesday morning to crowds under its glass pyramid