Napoleon-era Jewels Stolen in Louvre Museum Robbery

PARIS — The Louvre museum was the target of a highly orchestrated robbery on Sunday, resulting in the loss of several historical jewels from France’s imperial era.

France’s minister of culture Rachida Dati said in an interview on the TF1 television channel that the heist had taken between four and seven minutes, beginning around 9:30 a.m. as the museum was opening. She described the perpetrators as “professionals,” part of a highly experienced and possibly international network.

The robbers, a group of “three or four” according to officials, broke into the Apollo gallery, which houses jewels of historic value including a number of France’s crown jewels, using a mechanized lift set on a truck. Once inside, they targeted two specific cases.

French minister of the interior Laurent Nuñez, speaking on a radio program, said the stolen pieces had “inestimable value” and “true patrimonial significance.”

Authorities later confirmed the stolen items included pieces from the historic collection of Napoleon and Empress Joséphine.

One item, said to be a crown that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife Marie Louise, was recovered broken near the museum perimeter shortly after the incident, according to Le Parisien newspaper.

“Every effort is being made to recover the stolen artifacts,” the Paris police prefecture said in a statement to AFP. Surveillance footage and forensic evidence are currently being reviewed as part of the ongoing investigation.

No injuries were reported and the Louvre’s visitors were evacuated. The museum posted on X (formerly Twitter) that it will remain closed for the rest of the day on Sunday “for exceptional reasons.”

A preliminary investigation has been launched for organized gang theft and criminal conspiracy, led by the Brigade de Répression du Banditisme, a special police unit charged with investigating armed robberies, serious burglaries and scams, stolen cars and art thefts, with support from the Central Office for the Fight Against Trafficking in Cultural Goods (OCBC).