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‘Priceless’ jewels stolen from France’s Louvre Museum in four-minute heist

The world’s most-visited museum will remain closed for the day for ‘exceptional reasons’.

Thieves wielding power tools have struck at the famed Louvre Museum in Paris, stealing priceless jewels in a brazen heist that took just four minutes, according to the government.

The thieves struck at about 9:30am (07:30 GMT) when the museum had already opened its doors to the public and entered the Galerie d’Apollon building, which is home to the French crown jewels, the Ministry of the Interior said in a statement on Sunday.

“The investigation has begun, and a detailed list of the stolen items is being compiled. Beyond their market value, these items have priceless heritage and historical value,” the statement said, adding that no injuries were reported, either among the public or among Louvre staff or law enforcement officers.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati said the daring heist was over in four minutes, and that one of the stolen jewellery pieces was found near the museum.

“We came immediately, a couple of minutes after we received information of this robbery. To be completely honest, this operation lasted almost four minutes – it was very quick. We have to say that these are professionals,” she said.

The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum and home to Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, said on X it would remain closed for the day for “exceptional reasons”.

Footage from outside the museum showed chaotic scenes as police closed its gates and nearby roads, resulting in crowds of confused tourists outside the complex.

Tourists walk past a French police officer after the Louvre Museum was closed following a robbery, in Paris on October 19, 2025

Tourists walk past a police officer after the museum was closed due to the robbery [Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP]

Speaking to France Inter radio, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said “jewels of inestimable value” were stolen in what he described as a “major robbery”.

He said the thieves used a basket lift to reach the museum’s windows before cutting the panes “with a disc cutter” to enter the targeted gallery, before escaping on motorbikes.

French daily Le Parisien reported that the thieves entered the museum, housed in a former palace, via the facade facing the Seine, where construction work is under way. The newspaper said the criminals reportedly stole “nine pieces from the jewellery collection of Napoleon and the Empress”, adding that a crown belonging to Empress Eugenie was later found broken outside the museum.

The Louvre has a long history of thefts, most famously in 1911, when the Mona Lisa was stolen by a former worker. It was recovered two years later in Florence, Italy.

In 1983, two Renaissance-era pieces of armour were stolen from the Louvre and were recovered nearly four decades later.

Several French museum have recently been targeted.

Last month, thieves broke into Paris’s Natural History Museum, making off with gold samples worth 600,000 euros ($700,000). They used an angle grinder and a blow torch to steal the native gold, a metal alloy containing gold and silver in their natural unrefined form.

In November last year, four thieves stole snuffboxes and other precious artifacts from another Paris museum in broad daylight, breaking into a display case with axes and baseball bats. They snuck into the Cognacq-Jay museum wearing gloves, hoods and helmets, striking in full view of other visitors to the museum.

FreeStuffsNG:
Thieves wielding power tools have struck at the famed Louvre Museum in Paris, stealing priceless jewels in a brazen heist that took just four minutes, according to the government.

Speaking to France Inter radio, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said “jewels of inestimable value” were stolen in what he described as a “major robbery”.

It took 4 minutes to use huge ladder in broad daylight to steal "jewels of inestimable value" from a fortified museum with latest security camera, gadgets etc., built next to a major police station
Smh.

Insane clime.

Outthemudbyvoke:
Four minutes!! that’s not a robbery, that’s a masterclass in precision. These weren’t ordinary thieves, they clearly knew the museum layout, timing, and weak points. The fact that they used power tools and escaped on motorbikes in broad daylight inside the Louvre shows insane planning.

It’s crazy how some of the world’s most secured museums still fall victim to heists like this. Makes you wonder if there’s always an insider involved. You can’t pull off something like this without help from the inside, no matter how professional you are.

One thing is certain, Netflix will soon turn this into a movie called The Louvre Job. 😂
Still, beyond the jokes, it’s a big loss for history and culture.

FreeStuffsNG:
Thieves wielding power tools have struck at the famed Louvre Museum in Paris, stealing priceless jewels in a brazen heist that took just four minutes, according to the government.

Speaking to France Inter radio, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said “jewels of inestimable value” were stolen in what he described as a “major robbery”.

It took 4 minutes to use huge ladder in broad daylight to steal "jewels of inestimable value" from a fortified museum with latest security camera, gadgets etc., built next to a major police station
Smh.

Insane clime.

Ewedegubbler:
France and uk are Gona pay heavy and bitter prices for their hobnobing with Islamists.

The uae, Saudi and other concerned Arab nations have been warning them but to no avail. The leftists are hell bent on destroying the west.

blingxx:
I have seen too much heist movie to picture this on my head

FreeStuffsNG:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/19/priceless-jewels-stolen-from-frances-louvre-museum-in-four-minute-heist

Outthemudbyvoke:
Exactly! Same here bro. The way they pulled it off, I could literally see it playing out like a scene from Money Heist or Lupin. You can almost hear the background soundtrack, picture the mapping and planning and see the slow motion getaway on motorbikes. Real life turning into Netflix scripts these days.

FreeStuffsNG:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/19/priceless-jewels-stolen-from-frances-louvre-museum-in-four-minute-heist

jmoore:
The audacity of Kwara indigene wey dey collect promo from bandits, calling France an Insane clime.

You have forgotten that Tinubu's battery is in France.