Key details
- When: Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025, ~9:30 a.m.; Louvre reopened Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.
- What was taken: Eight royal-era jewels from the Apollo Gallery; value estimated at €88 million.
- Notable recovery: Crown of Empress Eugénie found damaged near the museum.
The Louvre Museum re-opened to visitors Wednesday morning, three days after thieves made off with France’s crown jewels in a stunningly brazen heist that has left police scrambling for clues and raised serious questions about security at the world’s most visited museum.
The audacious theft, which was conducted on Sunday evening within the museum’s historic Apollo Gallery, brought eight precious royal objects worth an estimated €88 million — approximately $102 million, according to the Associated Press. The entire operation took seven minutes.
The robbery unfolded Sunday morning in under eight minutes. Investigators say four suspects accessed an upper-floor window using a lift platform before breaking display cases and fleeing with 19th-century jewels linked to Empresses Marie-Louise and Eugénie, and Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the loss estimate is €88 million, with around 100 investigators assigned to the case, as reported by the Associated Press.
On Wednesday, museum officials closed off areas of the Apollo Gallery to protect evidence while letting in big audiences with more security. The cultural minister of France said that alarms went off and police were there in minutes, even though the government was looking into security measures. Reuters also confirmed that the museum is open again and noted that concerns about security have grown.
One stolen item, the crown of Empress Eugénie, was dropped during the getaway and recovered outside the museum with damage. Officials have not detailed the extent of the harm to the piece.
Louvre director Laurence des Cars called the incident a “terrible failure” and said she offered to resign; the offer was declined. She is expected to appear before the Senate Culture Committee in the coming days as lawmakers press for answers on how the heist happened and what will change.
Police are going through CCTV footage and forensic evidence, and INTERPOL has added the missing objects to its Stolen Works of Art database. Officials have warned against taking apart or selling the diamonds, saying that their historical value is much more than their market price.
Visitors returned Wednesday to the glass-pyramid entrance as the investigation continued and the missing pieces remained at large. Officials have not announced any arrests.
The heist has also been likened to other high-profile art thefts in recent decades, though fewer have involved items of such profound national significance. French authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the theft was carried out by an international group of organized criminals.
Anyone who has information about the robbery is requested to call Paris police.
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