What to know about the investigation so far
The world was left scratching its heads on Oct. 19, 2025, as the unthinkable happened: the Louvre Museum in France was robbed in broad daylight in under five minutes. As one of the most famous art museums in the world, the Louvre is home to thousands of priceless artifacts and art pieces, and is under 24-hour surveillance. The alleged group of thieves were able to flee the scene with an estimated $88 million euros worth of jewellery while evading capture. What they left in their wake is leaving the world to question just how the robbers were able to pull such an impressive heist.
On Oct. 19, around 9:30 a.m., thieves, disguised as construction workers, parked a basket-lift directly outside the Louvre Museum. They were allegedly pretending to be doing repairs on the building’s exterior, then allegedly using a disc cutter to cut through a window before using the same tool on several display cases inside. As they entered through the Galerie d’Apollon, in the duration of four minutes, the thieves were able to get in and out of the museum, and leaving with them were several artifacts. The thieves narrowly escaped by using the aforementioned basket lift to descend to ground level and fleeing on electric scooters. The whereabouts of the alleged thieves after fleeing the Louvre Museum are currently unknown at the time of publication.
Among the stolen artifacts were an emerald necklace and earrings set originally worn by Empress Marie Louise. As well, a set of sapphire jewellery worn by Queen Marie Amelie and Queen Hortense was reported missing, including a tiara, necklace and one of two earrings. Lastly among the stolen items were the historic Reliquary Brooch, and tiara and brooch set that once belonged to Empress Eugénie. The thieves attempted to get away with Empress Eugénie’s emerald-set imperial crown as well, but the headwear was later recovered outside of the museum. The thieves tried to set fire to the basket-lift to destroy evidence, but this attempt was stopped by the museum’s security team. French authorities have collected over 150 DNA samples and fingerprints from the crime scene, with Prosecutor Laure Beccuau going on the record to Ouest-France Newspaper saying she was “optimistic” about the recovery of the jewels. As reported by the Guardian, Beccau shared “[the thieves] left behind a helmet, angle grinders and disc cutters, a hi-vis vest, and several other items,” which will be analyzed during the investigation. At the time of publication, no further updates have been issued surrounding the recollection of the jewels.
According to French fine-arts insurer and President of Serex Assurances Romain Déchelette speaking to CBS, “French law prohibits entities like the Louvre from insuring its property, except when part of a collection is moved or loaned to another institution.” Due to their iconic and easily recognizable appearance, it would be very difficult to sell the crown jewels, even on the black market. As stated by Chris Marinello, the chief executive of Art Recovery International, in an interview with the BBC, “[the thieves] are not going to keep them intact, they are going to break them up, melt down the valuable metal, recut the valuable stones and hide evidence of their crime.” This means the longer the jewels go without being recovered, the less likely it is that they can be fully recovered.
The last time the Louvre was robbed was in 1998, and that case remains unsolved. This incident involved the theft of Le Chemin de Sevres, a painting by nineteenth-century French artist Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot. At the time, the incident spurred significant improvements in museum security measures.