Paris – According to the French Minister of Culture, a spectacular art theft took place at the world-famous Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday.

"This morning, a robbery occurred at the opening of the Louvre Museum," Culture Minister Rachida Dati said on Sunday on the online service X. No one was injured. She initially declined to provide further details about the incident.

Shortly after the shocking news, the museum announced on its official account: “The Louvre Museum will remain closed today for exceptional reasons.”

This is how the art theft happened

According to initial findings, several perpetrators broke into the museum, according to sources close to the minister. They are on the run. The attack took place between 9:30 and 9:40 a.m.

According to French media reports, nine pieces of jewelry from Napoleon and the Empress's collection were stolen: a necklace, a brooch, a tiara, and more. The extent of the damage has yet to be determined. According to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, the stolen jewelry is of"inestimable value."

The mayor of Paris Centre, Ariel Weil, reacted with shock to the robbery. He said the incident would"inevitably raise security questions." He said: "Obviously, it feels like Arsène Lupin—until now, this has been a movie scenario. It's hard to believe that it's apparently so easy to rob the Louvre."

According to French media, the perpetrators are said to have arrived at the crime scene on at least one Yamaha TMax scooter. They are said to have stopped on the Seine side of the building, where construction work is currently underway. Apparently, they deliberately took a freight elevator to the first floor and used power cutters to open the windows from a balcony. Initially, chainsaws were reportedly used.

They also used the same saws to get to their loot. As"Libération" reports, they cracked open the display cases for"Napoléon Jewelry" and "Sovereign Jewelry" in the "Galerie d'Apollon" and completely emptied the display cases. After their loot, the Louvre robbers fled on scooters toward the A6 motorway. One scooter was later recovered, according to police sources.

The public prosecutor's office in Paris said it had launched an investigation into"organized gang theft" and "formation of a criminal organization."

Visitors to the Louvre panicked, according to eyewitnesses

According to an unconfirmed eyewitness account, panic reigned among the first Louvre visitors at the moment of the attack. An unknown user wrote on X:"I was outside. The police were running around the pyramid, trying to enter the Louvre through the glass side doors, but they were locked and they couldn't get in. Everyone inside was running around banging on the glass doors to get out."

According to an internal source at the Louvre, the French newspaper Le Parisien reported that the collection's largest diamond was not stolen. The Regent, weighing 140 carats, was mounted on a parade sword worn by Napoleon at his coronation in 1804.

The Louvre is one of the most famous attractions in the French capital. With nearly nine million visitors, it was the most visited museum in the world in 2024. Among other works, the museum exhibits Leonardo da Vinci's famous"Mona Lisa."