Thieves have broken into the Louvre Museum in Paris through a window and have stolen pieces of jewellery with “inestimable heritage” before escaping on motorbikes, the French interior ministry said on Sunday.
“The investigation has begun, and a detailed list of the stolen items is being compiled. Beyond their market value, these items have inestimable heritage and historical value,” the ministry said in a statement.
No injuries were reported, either among the public or among Louvre staff or law enforcement officers, it said.
The newspaper Le Parisien reported pieces of jewellery from the Napoleon collection were stolen.
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Interior minister Laurent Nuñez called it a “major robbery”.
He said on France Inter radio that individuals “entered from the outside using a basket lift”, stole jewels of “inestimable value”, and that the operation “lasted seven minutes”.
It was “manifestly a team that had done scouting”, he said, adding that the panes were cut “with a disc cutter”.
Mr Nuñez would not confirm what jewels were taken but said the thieves targeted two glass cases. The Apollon wing of the Louvre has a set of historic crowns, diadems and sovereign jewellery.
He said the museum was evacuated to preserve evidence and to allow investigators and forensics teams to carry out their work. The Paris prosecutor has opened an inquiry into the theft.
“A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum,” French culture minister Rachida Dati wrote on social media earlier.
She added: “No injuries reported. I’m on site with museum staff and police.”
Ms Dati later told TF1 that the gang broke into the Galerie d’Apollon — a sumptuous room on the first floor of the Petite Galerie that has housed the French crown jewels since 1887 — and that a piece of jewelry was recovered during the escape.
Several pieces of jewelry belonging to Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie had been stolen, according to French newspaper Le Parisien.
The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum, said on X it would remain closed for the day for “exceptional reasons”.
One of the largest arts centres on the planet, the Louvre attracts more than eight million visitors a year. Its works range from classical sculpture to Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci’s 16-century masterpiece and the world’s most famous portrait.
A global symbol of French culture, the Louvre is one of the most heavily guarded places in the capital.
Despite its security, the museum has at times been breached, most famously in 1911 when Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen. Other attempts targeted works including Eugene Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, as well as Gustave Courbet’s The Wave.
Earlier this year, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced a major new renovation of the museum after its director warned that visiting the overcrowded building had become a “physical ordeal”.
In a note to the cultural ministry leaked to the media in January, the Louvre’s director, Laurence des Cars, had said the space below the museum’s glass pyramid entrance was not properly insulated from the cold or heat, tended to amplify noise, and was uncomfortable for both the public and the staff.
Ms Des Cars also raised the alarm over water leaks, failing infrastructure and temperature swings that endanger the conservation of works of art. Visitors faced overcrowding and substandard facilities, she said. – Agencies
