With the nation reeling from news of a in which authorities say thieves made off with some of the nation’s most precious historical jewels, the Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum, remains closed on Monday.
Police and investigators are on the scene conducting forensics operations in hopes that they and their colleagues can find the perpetrators and the loot that they made off with.
Police say 60 investigators are currently on the case, operating under the assumption that robbery was planned and carried out by an organized crime gang.
Fleeing from museum staff, the thieves left behind numerous tools and equipment that authorities hope will provide clues as to their identity.
The Louvre’s website and X account both announced that the museum would remain closed on Monday “for exceptional reasons.”
How could thieves rob the Louvre?
In Sunday’s heist, thieves used a truck with a cherry picker lift to access the Apollo Gallery, built by Louis XIV in 1661 as a model for Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors. It was there that they used angle cutters and other instruments to break open vitrines housing the jewels as visitors slowly gained entrance when the Louvre opened its doors.
The theft of eight historically important royal jewels “of inestimable value” dating back to Napoleon’s reign — one, the crown of Empress Eugenie, was dropped (and damaged) by the crew as they fled the scene — has ignited a firestorm of recrimination, with authorities and citizens alike asking how something like this could happen.
On Monday, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin admitted the country and its museums have security issues when it comes to protecting France’s national treasures.
“There are many museums in Paris, many museums in France, with priceless valuables,” he said. “What is certain is that we have failed, since people were able to park a lift truck in the middle of Paris, get people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewels, and give France a terrible image.”
Sunday’s robbery is just the latest (and most spectacular) to take place in a French museum in recent months, prompting Interior Minister Laurent Nunez to admit that security at such institutions is “a major weak spot.”
Last month, thieves made off with some $700,000 worth of gold from Paris’ Museum of Natural History; while in Limoges, two porcelain dishes and a vase valued at $7.6 million dollars were stolen.
The last theft at the Louvre took place in 1998, when Camille Corot’s, “Le Chemin de Sevres” (The Sevres Road) was stolen. The 1850s oil painting was never recovered.
Macron under fire as political finger pointing begins
French President , who has at times exhibited a laissez-faire attitude toward culture by ignoring warnings from experts — as in his decision to allow the extremely fragile Bayeux Tapestry to travel to the UK despite an outcry from conservationists — has vowed that the jewels will be returned.
Macron on Sunday pledged that French authorities would, “recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice … The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history.”
Macron, who recently announced a , and is facing an extremely fractious parliament, quickly came under fire for the fiasco.
Far-right National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella, for instance, took to X to voice his dismay, writing: “The Louvre is a global symbol of culture. This robbery, which allowed thieves to steal jewels from the French crown, is an unbearable humiliation for our country. How far will the decay of the state go?”
What was stolen from the Louvre?
Despite the shock of the theft, there was relief at the museum that thieves did not target the Regent Diamond (valued at more than $60 million) and dropped the crown of Empress Eugenie in their haste before they got away.
On Monday, the Louvre released a list of the stolen items.
The list included an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon gave his wife Empress Marie-Louise, as well as a diamond-encrusted diadem that belonged to Empress Eugenie.
Also stolen was necklace that once belonged to Marie-Amelie, the last queen of France.
The museum says the necklace is bejeweled with eight sapphires and 631 diamonds.
Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher
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