At around 9:30 this morning three thieves gained access to the museum from the River Seine quayside, where construction work has been taking place. They arrived on motorbikes and were armed with small chainsaws, and two of the thieves made a beeline for the famed Apollo Gallery, which houses the French crown jewels, leaving the third thief to keep watch outside. Using an angle grinder to access display cases, they then stole several items from the imperial jewelry collection including a tiara, a brooch, and a necklace. While the thieves fled the scene, one of the stolen items was dropped near the Louvre, and has since been recovered.
French police officers stand next to a furniture elevator used by robbers to enter the Louvre Museum, on the Quai Francois Mitterrand, in Paris on October 19, 2025. Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images.
French police have since cordoned off the Louvre and a major riverside road to further investigate the break-in. The focus is on the museum’s southeast corner, where a large mechanized ladder (commonly used for furniture delivery) reaches up to a balcony that is believed to have been the thieves’ entry point. As of now, there is uncertainty of exactly how many items were stolen, and a detailed list is currently being made. The Paris prosecutor’s office said it has opened an investigation into suspected “organized theft and criminal conspiracy to commit a crime.”
The Louvre theft is just the latest in a spate of robberies targeting museums across France recently. Last month, thieves stole rare gold samples worth around $700,000 from the National History Museum in Paris. Also in September, thieves broke into the Adrien Dubouché National Museum in Limoges, stealing two Chinese porcelain dishes from the 14th and 15th centuries and an 18th-century vase—altogether worth an estimated $11.2 million. Apparently, it’s been a good season for the thieves and none for the French police as there are no leads on those cases either. Goodness.
Source
:: artnet