The Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, will remain closed on Monday as the country is shocked by news of a brazen robbery on Sunday morning, in which French authorities say thieves made away with some of the country’s most precious historical gems.
Police and investigators are conducting forensic operations at the scene in the hope that they and their associates can track down the criminals and the loot they committed.
Police say there are currently 60 investigators working on the case, and are working under the assumption that the robbery was planned and executed by an organized crime gang.
Fleeing from museum staff, the thieves left behind several tools and equipment that authorities hope will provide clues to their identity.
Both the Louvre’s website and the X account announced that the museum would be closed on Monday “for exceptional reasons”.
How could thieves rob the Louvre?
In Sunday’s robbery, thieves used a truck with a cherry picker lift to access the Apollo Gallery, which was built by Louis XIV in 1661 as a model for the Versailles Hall of Mirrors. It was there that he used angle cutters and other tools to break down showcases containing jewels as visitors were slowly entering when the Louvre opened its doors.
The theft of eight historically important “of priceless value” royal jewels from Napoleon’s reign – one, the crown of Empress Eugénie, was dropped (and damaged) by the crew as they fled the scene – has sparked a firestorm of recriminations, with authorities and citizens alike asking how such a thing could have happened.
On Monday, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin acknowledged that the country and its museums have security issues when it comes to protecting France’s national treasures.
“There are many museums in Paris, many museums in France, which contain priceless precious objects,” he said. “It’s certain that we failed, because people were able to park a lift truck in the middle of Paris, take people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewelry, and give France a terrible image.”
Sunday’s robbery is the latest (and most spectacular) incident to hit a French museum in recent months, prompting Interior Minister Laurent Nunez to admit that security at such institutions is “a major weakness.”
Last month, thieves stole nearly $700,000 worth of gold from the Natural History Museum of Paris; While in Limoges, two porcelain vessels and a vase worth $7.6 million were stolen.
The last theft at the Louvre was in 1998, when Camille Corot’s, “Le Chemin de Sèvres” (The Sèvres Road) was stolen. The oil painting from the 1850s was never recovered.
Macron is on target as political finger pointing begins
French President Emmanuel Macron, who has at times shown a lax attitude towards culture by ignoring experts’ warnings – such as in his decision to allow the extremely fragile Bayeux Tapestry to travel to the UK despite an outcry from conservationists – has vowed that the jewels will be returned.
Macron pledged on Sunday that French authorities, “will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice… The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history.”
Macron, who had recently announced a multimillion-dollar overhaul of the Louvre, and is facing an extremely tumultuous parliament, soon came under fire for the fiasco.
“For example, Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), initiated the collapse of the state?”
What was stolen from the Louvre?
Despite the shock of the theft, the museum was relieved that the thieves did not target the Regent Diamond (which was worth more than $60 million) and hastily removed Empress Eugenie’s tiara before escaping.
On Monday, the Louvre released a list of the stolen items.
The list included an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon had given to his wife, Empress Marie-Louise, as well as a diamond-studded tiara that had belonged to Empress Eugénie.
The necklace that once belonged to Marie-Amelie, the last queen of France, was also stolen.
The museum says the necklace is set with eight sapphires and 631 diamonds.
Edited by: Elisabeth Schumacher