Louvre Museum
Closed After Thieves Steal Jewels
Published
A major heist rocked The Louvre over the weekend when thieves scaled the iconic Paris museum with a basket lift and made off with priceless jewels in just seven minutes.
According to Le Parisien, the thieves targeted the Apollo Gallery, using a freight elevator to reach the jewelry collection of Napoleon and Empress Eugénie. The outlet says nine pieces were stolen, including Eugénie’s crown which was later found broken outside the museum.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called it a “major robbery,” saying the crew entered from the outside using a basket lift and swiped gems of inestimable value. The job was “clearly carried out by a team that had done scouting,” Nuñez said, noting the panes were cut with a disc cutter.
The Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, shut its doors “for exceptional reasons” after the break in. Images from the scene showed confused crowds as police sealed off the gates and surrounding streets near the palace complex.
The Louvre has weathered infamous thefts before including the 1911 Mona Lisa heist that turned Da Vinci’s masterpiece into the world’s most famous painting. But Sunday’s smash and grab adds another chapter to its storied history.