PARIS, FRANCE: French police have arrested two men in connection with last week’s audacious theft of priceless royal jewellery from the Louvre Museum, sources close to the investigation confirmed on Sunday.
The first suspect was apprehended at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport at 22:00 on Saturday (25 October) as he attempted to board an international flight, according to reports in Le Parisien and Paris Match. A second man was detained shortly afterwards in the Paris region.
The arrests come seven days after a sophisticated criminal gang executed a brazen daylight robbery at the world-renowned museum, stealing eight irreplaceable pieces from France’s crown jewels collection.
Seven-minute heist shocks art world
The meticulously planned theft unfolded in just seven minutes last Sunday (19 October) morning. Masked thieves used a furniture hoist lorry to scale the museum’s exterior walls before breaking into the Apollo Gallery, which houses France’s most precious royal treasures.
Among the stolen pieces are an emerald-and-diamond necklace gifted by Napoleon to Empress Marie-Louise, a diamond-studded diadem once worn by Empress Eugénie, and a necklace that belonged to Marie-Amélie, France’s last queen.
The thieves also attempted to steal Empress Eugénie’s crown but dropped and damaged it whilst fleeing after being confronted by museum staff.
Part of wider crime wave
The Louvre theft follows a troubling pattern of museum raids across France. Recent incidents include break-ins at Paris’s Natural History Museum and a facility in Limoges, with combined losses exceeding £6.5 million.
This marks the first successful major theft from the Louvre since 1998, when a Camille Corot painting was stolen and never recovered. The museum has experienced several smaller thefts over the years, including the disappearance of ancient Egyptian artefacts in 2003 and jewellery pieces in 2010.
The Louvre has also faced vandalism incidents, most notably in 2013 when a visitor defaced Eugène Delacroix’s iconic painting “Liberty Leading the People” with a black marker.
French authorities have launched a massive international manhunt as investigations continue.
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