Louvre Museum Robbery

By Emily Junaedi, 2027

Published 10/21/2025

The Louvre Museum in Paris, France—home to the Mona Lisa and many other masterpieces and artifacts. On October 19, 2025, a robbery took place at the iconic museum, thieves taking off with precious jewels and the museum closing for the rest of the day. The French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said that the stolen items are “priceless” and have a cultural and historical value that cannot be calculated.

The thieves reportedly broke in using a mechanical ladder mounted on the back of a truck around 9:30 - 9:40 a.m, local time, shortly after the museum opened. They knew that at this time, the museum would turn off their intruder alarms in order to let visitors into the museum. There were four thieves involved, dressed as construction workers, breaking in with battery powered disc cutters. They stole jewels from Galerie d’Apollon (Apollo’s Gallery), the section in the museum that contains the French Crown jewels. Officials say that nine items were stolen by smashing through display cases and the criminals fled the scene on mopeds. Items that were stolen included a brooch that belonged to Empress Eugenie and others encrusted with diamonds and precious gemstones. This took less than 10 minutes.

Security footage showed the thieves breaking into the museum calmly. There was no violence, although two guards were threatened, and they remained very "professional" according to French Culture Minister Rachida Dati. She also said that the thieves seemed experienced and had a well-thought out plan. Dati reported one item found near the museum, seemingly dropped: a crown belonging to Empress Eugenie as well.

The museum posted on X that they would be closed for the rest of the day and a crowd of tourists were evacuated from the building. Police were seen preventing people from going into the museum, many who were uninformed about the closure and investigation. French President Emmanuel Macron said that “everything is being done” to catch the thieves as the manhunt continues.