The world-famous Louvre museum in Paris has closed after a gang of ‘chainsaw-wielding’ robbers stole jewellery worth millions.
The group of criminals swiped priceless items, including a necklace and a brooch, once belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife Josephine in broad daylight, forcing the tourist attraction to shut its doors on Sunday.
The raid, which took place just after 9am, saw the thieves brazenly break into the world’s most popular art museum by propping a huge freight elevator up against its walls, according to an investigating source.
The group of three ‘highly organised criminals’ arrived on scooters, masking their faces to hide their identity, before pulling out their chainsaws and making off with the precious pieces, it added.
It took the gang just seven minutes to complete their heist, from the moment they arrived to their speedy getaway, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.
They drove the elevator on the back of a flat-bed truck right up to a window close to the museum’s Apollo Gallery (Galerie d’Apollon), he added.
Officers rushed to the scene and were pictured inspecting the elevator, resembling a giant ladder, which had been left up against the historical stone walls of the Louvre after the gang rushed off with the loot.
Meanwhile, thousands of panicking tourists were trapped inside the iconic museum while a hurried evacuation took place, before being escorted towards the city’s streets on a busy day in the French capital.
Police sources told Le Parisien: ‘After breaking windows, two men entered, stealing nine pieces from Napoleon and the Empress’s jewelry collection – a necklace, a brooch, and more.’
The world-famous Louvre museum in Paris has closed after a gang stole jewellery worth millions (pictured: French police officers next to a ladder propped up against the tourist site)
Tourists pictured being escorted from the Louvre on Sunday after thieves arrived on scooters before pulling out chainsaws to swipe priceless historical items
Officers rushed to the scene and were pictured inspecting the empty site after a mass evacuation
After being crowned Emperor and Empress of France in 1804, Napoleon and Josephine amassed one of the most impressive jewellery collections ever.
Many of the pieces were stolen from royalty during the French Revolution, while others were taken from around the country’s sweeping Empire, which expanded rapidly under the emperor’s rule.
Police sources added that ‘the criminals gained access to the building on the Seine River side’, where construction work is in progress.
‘They used a freight elevator that leads directly to the targeted room,’ they said.
Those stealing historical art pieces or jewellery often work for dealers who will be unable to sell the priceless items on the black market.
Instead, the pieces will be kept hidden, and enjoyed by the master criminal who commissioned the raid, said the source.
Rachida Dati, France‘s Culture Minister, said: ‘I am on site alongside the museum staff and the police.’
She said a criminal enquiry had been launched, and that detectives were liaising with museum staff.
According to Ms Dati, nobody was hurt during the raids, while a Louvre spokesman confirmed the museum was shut ‘for exceptional reasons’.
There are regular high end art thefts in Paris, including at the Louvre.
Panicked visitors attempt to make their way out of the iconic museum following the robbery
Police surround the tourist attraction on Sunday after it was reported jewellery previously belonging to Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte was swiped from the museum
The most infamous came in 1911 when Leonardo Da Vinci’s 16th Century masterpiece Mona Lisa was taken, causing an international outcry.
Vincenzo Peruggia, an employee of the world’s most visited art museum, hid in a cupboard overnight to take the painting.
It was recovered two years later when he tried to sell it to an antiques dealer in Florence, Italy.
The latest raid comes despite authorities regularly pledging to improve security at the numerous galleries across the city.
Axe-wielding thieves targeted an exhibition of miniature objects at the Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris on November 20, 2024.
Among their haul were seven highly prized snuffboxes, including two loaned by the British Crown.
The daytime raid led to an insurance payout of more than £3 million to the Royal Collection Trust.
In 2017, three art thieves were sentenced to up to eight years in prison for stealing five masterpieces worth almost £100m from the Paris Museum of Modern Art.
A burglary in May 2010 saw works by Picasso and Matisse disappearing.
