PARIS and LONDON -- Several people disguised as construction workers broke into the world-famous Louvre museum in Paris on Sunday, cracking open display cases and stealing jewelry that once belonged to the Emperor Napoleon and his wife, officials said.At least nine pieces of jewelry of "inestimable heritage and historical value" -- including crowns, necklaces, earrings and brooches -- were taken in the brazen heist before the thieves made their getaway on motorcycles, two ministers said."Investigations have begun, and a precise list of the stolen items is underway," the museum said in a statement.French police officers investigate an alleged robbery at the Louvre Museum, on Quai Francois Mitterrand, in Paris on Oct.19, 2025.Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty ImagesThe French Ministry of Culture later on Sunday released a list of eight items that they said had been stolen, which included two brooches, two diadems, two necklaces and two pairs of earrings.French President Emmanuel Macron vowed in a social media post that the stolen jewelry will be recovered."The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history," Macron said.
"We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice.Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor's office." Four thieves pulled off the apparently well-planned heist, according to authorities.The theft took place around 9:30 a.m.
local time on Sunday, just before the museum was set to open to the public, the Paris Police Prefecture said in a statement.Police officers stand near the pyramid of the Louvre museum after reports of a robbery, in Paris, France, Oct.19, 2025.Gonzalo Fuentes/ReutersThe team of thieves drove up to the side of the museum in what police described as a "mobile freight elevator" equipped with a metal ladder on the back that was extended up to a window, according to the Paris police."They deployed the ...