The Louvre Museum remained closed this Monday after the spectacular robbery it suffered on Sunday morning.
The closure decision, confirmed by agencies such as EFE and AFPwas taken at the last moment, after visitors could access from the entrance of the pyramid at 9:00 in the morning, the usual opening time.
Many tourists were queuing early in the morning, but saw their hopes dashed when an hour later the management cited “exceptional” reasons for keeping the doors closed.
The robbery
On Sunday, a group of four thieves arrived at 9:30 in the morning on the southern flank of the Louvre with two motorcycles and a truck equipped with a forklift, with which two went up to the Apolo gallery on the first floor.
Informations relatives au vol par effraction survenu ce dimanche 19 octobre au musée du Louvre. pic.twitter.com/Qb1G8Jgg1w
— Musée du Louvre (@MuseeLouvre) October 19, 2025
After making a hole in a window with a cutting disc, they entered the interior and headed to the gallery of Apollo, commissioned by Louis XIV to exalt his glory as the Sun King.
The room houses the “Crown” jewelry collection, which has about 800 pieces.
The thieves opened two display cases with the saw and a person, probably a visitor, recorded part of the scene with his cell phone, according to a police source, cited by AFP.
Thieves stole nine pieces from the 19th century, including the crown of Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. The entire operation lasted eight minutes.
“Experienced” thieves
According to the Minister of the Interior, Laurent Nuñez, it was the work of “experienced” and possibly “foreign” thieves.
The eight stolen pieces of jewelry have “incalculable heritage value,” according to authorities. For Alexandre Giquello, president of the main auction house Drouot, the loot will be impossible to sell in its current state.
Now sixty police investigators are trying to find the thieves of royal jewels from the Louvre, a theft that has revived the debate about the lack of security in France’s museums, according to AFP.
“What is certain is that we have failed,” the Minister of Justice, Gérald Darmanin, acknowledged on the radio, for whom this fact projects “a very negative image” of the country.
The Louvre, one of the largest in the world, receives nine million visitors every year.
