The Louvre heist has triggered a national security alarm in France after thieves slipped into the Institute of Art’s Apollo Gallery and made off with eight pieces of the French Crown Jewels, valued at around €88 million (US $102 million).
The break-in, carried out in under ten minutes on the morning of 19th October 2025, took place just a few hundred metres from the Mona Lisa and unfolded through a window at the museum’s Seine-side façade. The thieves used a crane-lift and power tools to smash display cases and escape on motorbikes.
In the days following, visitors waiting in queue at the glass pyramid entrance watched as the museum reopened under tight restrictions, with the damaged Apollo Gallery still cordoned off.
France’s Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin sharply criticised the incident, declaring “we have failed,” and pointing to the ease with which a freight lift was erected outside the palace of culture.
Museum staff and unions say the theft highlighted long-standing issues. Workers had struck just months earlier in protest of understaffing and overwhelmed security in the face of rising visitor numbers now nearing nine million annually.
French authorities have since mobilised over 100 investigators and launched a sweeping security audit not only of the Louvre but cultural sites across the country. With the suspects still at large and the jewels unlikely to be sold intact, experts warn this may represent one of the most complex museum theft cases in Europe’s modern history.
The incident has become a symbol of vulnerability in an institution once considered impregnable. As one visiting tourist commented: “It felt like a normal day — I didn’t notice extra security.”
While the stolen jewels themselves carry immense material and historical significance, the wider damage lies in the bruised image of French heritage, international credibility and the notion that one of the world’s great museums could be so easily breached.
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