Priceless jewels were stolen during a heist at the Louvre Museum in France
French police officers seal off the entrance to the Louvre Museum (Image: 2025 Getty Images)
One of the world’s most famous museums, The Louvre in Paris has been closed after several items were stolen, with only one of the items found so far. Posting on X, the museum wrote: “The Louvre Museum will remain closed today for exceptional reasons.”
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati told French TV channel TF1 that one of the stolen jewellery pieces has been recovered. The item was discovered close to the scene of the robbery. Dati said it is “being assessed,” although officials have not confirmed which specific piece was found.
Earlier on, Dati confirmed the details of the robbery initially in a short post, writing: “A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the @MuseeLouvre. No injuries reported. I am on site with the museum teams and the police. Investigations ongoing.”
Some French media outlets have reported that three men with masks broke into the Louvre shortly after it opened earlier on today and allegedly used a lift normally used to transport larger items to get access to the Apollo Gallery.
They are thought to have been carrying small chainsaws and reportedly made off with nine items of jewellery before they escaped. For the biggest stories in Wales first, sign up to our daily newsletter here
The main road outside the Louvre museum is closed as investigations take place(Image: 2025 Remon Haazen)
The museum was evacuated shortly after the event took place with a number of police units flocking to the site and telling people to stay away.
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A social media post from a visitor has described what it was like inside, sharing some images that look to be showing some people still locked inside after the robbery took place.
The X user wrote: “Security and members of the public locked inside the Louvre after its robbery today.”
A number of TikTok videos have also emerged which appear to show some of the visitors evacuating the museum.
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This is not the first time the Louvre or its collections have been targeted by thieves.
Famously, in 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen by a former employee who hid in the museum overnight and walked out with it concealed under his coat and was recovered two years later.
And in 1983, two Renaissance-era suits of armour were also stolen from the museum and only recovered decades later.
The Louvre’s collection includes around 33,000 works of art, ranging from ancient antiquities to major sculptures and paintings including icons such as the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
At this stage, it’s not clear who the people are who stole the jewellery, and the full value of the items taken is also unknown.
Some data shows that jewellery theft has been on the rise in Europe over the last few years, with locations like London being prime spots for thieves and Paris has also seen a significant rise in watch theft particularly, with one report noting a 31% increase in luxury watch thefts according to Stanhope Insurance.
And here in Wales, South Wales Police has been investigating a burglary at St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff.
A report was received of a burglary at the museum on Monday, October 6 as several items, including Bronze Age gold jewellery had been takem from a display case in the main building.
Detective Inspector Bob Chambers, from South Wales Police, said: “An investigation is on-going, and we urge anyone with information to contact us as soon as possible.
“Any information, no matter how small, may be relevant to the investigation.”
