This month was supposed to be a calm wrap-up of art fairs, new exhibitions, and cultural headlines. But no one expected the biggest art heist of the decade to take place in the heart of Paris — inside the Louvre Museum itself.

On October 19th, eight priceless pieces of the French Crown Jewels were stolen from the Galerie d’Apollon. Disguised as construction workers, the thieves entered the museum using a furniture lift and spent only four minutes inside before escaping on scooters. Among the stolen treasures were tiaras, necklaces, earrings, and brooches once belonging to Empress Eugénie, Empress Marie Louise, and Queens Marie-Amalie and Hortense. During their escape, two items—including Empress Eugénie’s crown—were dropped and later recovered, though one was damaged due to the tight space of the display case.

The robbers were well-prepared and professional, carrying power tools and wearing balaclavas to conceal their identities. Investigators believe the team had detailed knowledge of the Louvre’s layout and security vulnerabilities, possibly aided by insider information. Reports suggest that one of the suspects had previously been involved in burglary cases, pointing to a highly organized criminal network behind the operation.

The stolen items were valued at approximately €88 million, but the greater loss is cultural: these historic objects represent centuries of French heritage. Interestingly, some of the gallery’s most famous diamonds, such as the Regent Diamond, were left untouched, indicating the thieves targeted pieces that could be more easily sold or melted down.

The robbery exposed significant weaknesses in museum security. Certain areas of the Galerie d’Apollon lacked camera coverage, and prior recommendations from a security audit had not yet been fully implemented. Over 100 investigatorsare involved in the case. On 25 October, two men in their 30s from Seine‑Saint‑Denis were arrested in connection with the robbery; one was detained at Charles de Gaulle Airport while attempting to board a flight abroad. Five more suspects were arrested on 29 October, though the whereabouts of most of the stolen jewels remain unknown.

This heist is the Louvre’s most significant art theft since 1998, when Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot’s Le Chemin de Sèvreswas stolen, and only the third major robbery in the museum’s modern history, following the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa. It also fits into a worrying trend of museum thefts in France, including recent incidents at the Cognacq-Jay Museum, Hiéron Museum, Adrien Dubouché Museum, and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

Public and political reactions were immediate. President Emmanuel Macron condemned the theft as “an attack on our history,” pledging to recover the jewels and bring the criminals to justice. Opposition leaders criticized the government for lapses in security, calling the heist a national humiliation.

The Louvre reopened to visitors a few days later, though the Galerie d’Apollon remains closed for restoration and investigation. As October closes, this extraordinary theft overshadows other cultural events, reminding the world that even the most famous institutions are vulnerable and that criminal networks will continue to exploit any weakness in the protection of our shared heritage.