Updated October 19, 2025 at 12:04 PM AKDT
PARIS — A brazen robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris Sunday morning has left investigators searching for four men who made off with what officials describe as "priceless" jewels.
The Paris Prosecutor's office told NPR that two of the suspects broke into the museum's Galerie d'Apollon, which houses some of the museum's most valuable treasures, through a second-floor window shortly after the museum opened. Armed with small chainsaws and box cutters, the men smashed display cases before fleeing on Yamaha TMax scooters toward a nearby highway.
Two pieces of stolen jewelry — including the crown of Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III — were later found near the museum, apparently dropped or abandoned as the suspects fled. The gold and diamond encrusted crown was damaged, the prosecutor's office said.
A Louvre spokesperson described the items as being of "inestimable cultural and historical value."
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called the theft "a major, highly organized operation" that lasted just seven minutes. "There's a judicial investigation underway," Nuñez told France Inter radio, adding the missing items were "of true heritage value — truly priceless."
Nuñez said the robbers used a basket lift mounted on a truck to reach the window and later tried to set it on fire as they fled. He described the suspects as "a very experienced team that acted extremely quickly," adding that all central police units in Paris have been mobilized to track them down.
The museum was quickly evacuated and will remain closed Sunday to preserve evidence for investigators.
The Galerie d'Apollon, one of the Louvre's most iconic spaces, houses many of France's royal jewels and reopened in 2020 following major renovations.
Sunday's heist is the latest in a string of recent robberies targeting French museums.
In September, thieves made off with around $700,000 worth of samples of raw gold from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.
Also in September, robbers stole $11 million worth of porcelain works, described as national treasures, from the Adrien Dubouché National Museum in the French town of Limoges.
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