Inside job or perfect plan? 7-minute Louvre heist sees masked trio vanish with nine royal jewels | All we know

New Delhi: It unfolded like a scene from a heist thriller. In just seven minutes and in broad daylight, at least three masked thieves targeted Paris’s Louvre Museum on Sunday, October 19, 2025, escaping with nine priceless items from France’s crown jewels collection. Authorities immediately cordoned off the area around the iconic Louvre Pyramid, halting traffic and closing the Seine-side gates, leaving hundreds of tourists stranded. “What's going on?” one visitor asked. “Watch the news,” a policewoman replied, according to Le Parisien.

The break-in began around 9:30 am, just as visitors were entering the museum. The thieves reportedly gained access through a construction site along the Seine quayside. Using a goods lift, they reached the Apollo Gallery, home to France’s royal treasures. “Individuals entered from outside with a cherry picker,” confirmed Interior Minister Laurent Nunez.

Also Read

The Epstein Files probe: Bill and Hillary Clinton agree to testify before Congress, slam Committee for "partisan-politics"

Man extracts 191 grams of gold from old SIM cards, wows internet

Baloch rebels kill over 80 Pakistani troops, take 18 hostage

Armed with small chainsaws and an angle grinder, they cut through a window to enter the gallery. “Clearly a team that had been scouting,” a former Paris police chief told Le Parisien. Nunez later said that “three or four thieves” were involved in the crime. Once inside, the group swiftly raided two display cases, seizing nine pieces of jewelry, including a tiara and brooch from Napoleon Bonaparte’s collection, and ornaments belonging to Empress Eugenie. Within minutes, the robbers fled on motor scooters, vanishing into the streets of Paris.

One of the stolen items, believed to be Empress Eugénie’s broken crown, was later found discarded near the museum. Culture Minister Rachida Dati described the haul as “quite priceless” and said the operation was executed in “four minutes” by “professionals.”

The Louvre was quickly evacuated, and forensic teams scoured the crime scene. The museum remained closed for the rest of the day as investigators from the Banditism Repression Brigade (BRB) and the Central Office for Combating Trafficking in Cultural Property (OCBC) launched an inquiry into organized theft and criminal conspiracy. Officials confirmed that two of the nine items, including the Empress’s crown, have been recovered, while the rest, including a necklace, earrings, a brooch and another crown, remain missing.

Add TV9 English As A Trusted Source

Communist senator for Paris Ian Brossat expressed solidarity with the museum’s staff, saying, “We must hope that the police and justice services quickly identify the perpetrators so that they can be convicted and the stolen items recovered.” Built in 1546 and transformed into a museum after the French Revolution, the Louvre today spans 73,000 square metres and welcomes nearly 30,000 visitors a day, a symbol of French heritage now shaken by one of its boldest heists ever.