Paris
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France’s interior minister announced Sunday that thieves stole “priceless” jewelry from the Louvre in Paris, the world’s most-visited museum, in a daring seven-minute attack.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told France Inter radio station: “This morning, a major robbery occurred at the Apollo Museum. They entered the Louvre from the outside using an external cargo elevator installed on a truck.”
The Apollo Gallery houses the treasures of the French royal family, as well as treasures such as Louis XIV’s collection of hard stone tools.
France’s Culture Ministry said in a statement that two heavily guarded display cases were targeted and eight items, including tiaras and necklaces worn by Queen Marie Amélie and Queen Hortense, were stolen.
The thieves used an angle grinder to pry open the window and stole jewelry that had “sentimental value and was valuable,” the interior minister added.
Paris prosecutor Laure Becuau said the four suspects appeared to be involved in the theft and were unarmed, but threatened security guards with angle grinders.
Baekou said investigators had not ruled out foreign interference as a possibility in the investigation into the theft. But all leads were open.
Jewels stolen from the Louvre
Becuau said two pieces of jewelry were recovered during the search, including the crown of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.
The ornate gold piece, set with 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, was reportedly damaged in the robbery. France’s Culture Ministry admitted the Crown had “abandoned” the perpetrators as they fled the scene.
“Beyond their market value, these objects have immense heritage and historical value,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
French President Emmanuel Macron said “all measures are being taken” to apprehend the suspects.
“The theft at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage we cherish, because it is part of our history,” Macron told TV program X. “We will recover the works and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”
A detailed list of stolen goods released by the Ministry of Culture revealed that one of Queen Marie-Amélie’s and Queen Hortense’s sapphire earrings, a “reliquary brooch” of Empress Marie-Louise’s emerald necklace and emerald earrings, and Empress Eugenie’s tiara and large corsage ribbon brooch were stolen in the robbery.
The Ministry of Culture said an attempt to set fire to the truck used in the raid was thwarted by Louvre security, forcing the robbers to flee.
Under the authority of the Paris public prosecutor’s office, Paris police have launched an investigation into “aggravated theft and criminal conspiracy by an organized gang.”
Nunez told France Inter that the robbery took just seven minutes and the suspects fled on a motorbike.
“Clearly a team was scouting the scene. It was clearly a very experienced team that acted very quickly,” the interior minister said.
“We are confident that we will quickly find the culprit and, above all, recover the stolen goods,” he added.
Video from the scene showed French police investigating an abandoned furniture elevator next to a corner of the Louvre, whose ladder led to a broken window on a balcony.
Le Parisien newspaper reported that police found “two angle grinders, a torch, gasoline, gloves, a walkie-talkie, a blanket and a crown” at the robbery scene. The paper said the yellow vests used by the perpetrators to disguise themselves as workers were found a short distance away, as they had been lost during their escape.
A tour guide told CNN that as he was leading tourists into the Apollo Room, he heard what sounded like “stomping” on the windows before hearing security guards yelling for evacuation.
“I was just trying to figure out what was going on when I saw the museum workers going towards the noise, and they turned really quickly and started running and saying, ‘Get out, get out, get out, get out, evacuate!'” Ryan El Mandari said.
He said he tried to calm the visitors as they left the building, adding that although he heard noises, “there was no clue that it was a robbery.”
France’s interior ministry said the incident occurred at 9:30 a.m. local time and the people were evacuated without incident.
Culture Minister Rashida Dati said the robbery occurred while the museum was open. “No injuries were reported. I am at the scene along with museum staff and police. The investigation is ongoing,” Dati said in a post on X.
Christopher Marinello, founder of Art Recovery International, said if thieves were simply trying to get cash as quickly as possible, they might melt down precious metals or recut stones without considering the integrity of the piece.
“We need to dismantle the gangs and find a different approach, or we will lose something we will never see again,” Marinello told CNN.
The museum, which houses world-famous works of art such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, said it would remain closed on Sunday due to “exceptional reasons.”
The Home Office later said the closure was a security measure to preserve evidence from the investigation.
Ariel Weil, director of the Paris center, told reporters that the thieves had “obviously planned this carefully” and that he could not remember the last time in more than a century that the Louvre had been the target of a robbery. “Of course I’m thinking of the Mona Lisa stabbing in 1911, but I can’t think of a more recent robbery,” he said.
Last year, the Louvre welcomed 8.7 million visitors, with American tourists accounting for 13% of all visitors, second only to the French.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
