'Priceless' jewellery stolen from Louvre museum in Paris - as authorities reveal details of daring raid

 

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'Priceless' jewellery stolen from Louvre museum in Paris - as authorities reveal details of daring raid

 

Intruders entered via a basket lift using a platform mounted on a lorry, breaking a window and making off with jewels that "have genuine heritage value and are, in fact, priceless," France's interior minister said.

 

Sunday 19 October 2025 12:17, UK

https://news.sky.com/story/louvre-museum-in-paris-closed-after-robbery-13453106

 

"Priceless" jewellery has been stolen from the Louvre museum in Paris - as authorities revealed details of the daring raid that has forced the closure of the world famous landmark.

 

The museum, which is the world's most popular, drawing up to 30,000 visitors a day, said on X it was closing for "exceptional reasons" on Sunday.

 

In a separate post, culture minister Rachida Dati said there had been a robbery and she was on site alongside museum and police teams.

 

French interior minister Laurent Nunez said the "major robbery" involved intruders entering the museum via a basket lift using a platform mounted on a lorry.

 

"They broke a window and went towards several display cases where they stole jewellery," he added.

 

"These are jewels that have genuine heritage value and are, in fact, priceless."

 

Mr Nunez told France Inter radio the robbery lasted seven minutes, while the interior ministry said the criminals fled on two motorbikes. No injuries have been reported.

 

The robbers were well-prepared, Mr Nunez said, and "had done scouting", cutting window panes "with a disc cutter" before escaping "on a TMAX" (a type of Yamaha maxi-scooter).

 

The robbery took place between 9.30 and 9.40am (7.30-7.40am GMT), the French government said in a statement, adding an investigation has begun, and "a detailed list of the stolen items is being compiled".

 

Hooded criminals entered the building from the River Seine side, where construction work is taking place, French daily newspaper, Le Parisien, said, quoting preliminary findings from the police investigation.

 

After breaking windows, two intruders went to the Galerie d'Apollon (Apollo Gallery), home to a selection of the French Crown Jewels.

 

The robbers escaped with nine pieces of jewellery from Napoleon and the Empress's collection.

 

A necklace, a brooch, a tiara, were among the items taken from the Napoleon and French Sovereigns display cases. A third robber stayed outside, Le Parisien said.

 

The paper said thieves arrived on scooters and used a freight lift to reach the room they sought.

 

They were equipped with small chainsaws, according to a police source.

 

Social media users posted pictures and videos from in and outside the building, with one people leaving in what the user described as "total panic".

 

On person on X said they were there and reported a confused-sounding scene of police "running near pyramid and trying to enter the Louvre from glass side doors but they were locked and they could not enter".

 

"Everyone inside was running and banging on glass doors to get out, but could not open. Police and military police arrived," they added.

 

It's not the first time the museum, one of the world's most famous and a French national landmark, has been targeted by thieves.

 

In 1911, the Mona Lisa vanished from its frame, stolen by a former worker who hid inside the museum and walked out with the painting under his coat.

 

It was recovered two years later in Florence - an episode that helped make Leonardo da Vinci's portrait the world's best-known artwork.

 

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

 

The museum's collection also bears the legacy of Napoleonic-era looting, containing 33,000 works of art, including antiquities, sculptures and paintings.

 

In addition to the Mona Lisa, its star attractions feature the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

 

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.