Daring daylight heist at Paris’s Louvre: Thieves steal eight priceless royal artifacts | Watch CCTV footage

Louvre museum robbery caught on camera, man seen cutting through glass case

A broad daylight robbery at Paris’s iconic Louvre Museum on Sunday has sparked outrage and renewed concern over security in France’s museums. The heist, which lasted just minutes, saw thieves make off with eight priceless royal artifacts in full view of visitors.

Footage shared by France’s BFMTV shows a masked suspect calmly cutting through a glass display case with a handheld tool while museumgoers walk by, seemingly unaware of the unfolding theft.

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A statement from the French cultural ministry said: “Two high-security display cases were targeted, and eight objects of priceless cultural heritage were stolen.”

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described the robbers as an experienced group, possibly “foreigners,” and admitted that museum security remained a “weak spot” in France.

What was stolen

Among the stolen pieces were jewels of immense historical value, including a sapphire diadem, necklace, and single earring linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings belonging to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife; a reliquary brooch; Empress Eugénie’s diadem; and her large corsage-bow brooch,  part of a celebrated imperial ensemble.

According to French authorities, three of the robbers disguised themselves as construction workers to gain access, disabling the museum’s security system and escaping within ten minutes. The group fled with jewels worth millions of dollars, pulling off the theft in plain sight of both visitors and staff.