The Four-Man Heist that Bested the World’s Most Famous Museum

The Louvre is a distinguished national art museum in Paris, France. In fact, the Louvre is the most visited museum in the entire world. It's also well known for its high security, often being used as the ultimate heist destination in films. This begs the question of how it got robbed, in broad daylight, while open, by only four assailants. 

You may have heard of the Louvre mentioned in conjunction with some of its most recognisable pieces, such as the world-renowned Mona Lisa or The Coronation of Napoleon. The Louvre is an important heritage site for France and is full of priceless pieces of French history. This is why a successful robbery is such a big deal.

So what happened? Well, seven minutes was all it took to plunder the world’s most visited museum in broad daylight. On Sunday, October 19th, four masked robbers broke into the Louvre and successfully stole multiple priceless historical artefacts. 

The daring heist began at 9:30 am, half an hour after the museum had opened. The thieves used an extendable ladder intended for lifting furniture to reach a second-floor window on the Louvre’s Seine-facing side. 

At 9:34 am, two construction-clad thieves ascended the ladder and broke a window, using an angle grinder, allowing them access to the museum's Apollo Gallery, just a mere 270 yards (≈247 meters) away from the treasured Mona Lisa.

The criminals then used the angle grinder to break two display cases and removed nine precious jewels. At 9:37 am, the museum alarm was triggered, alerting the staff to the break-in. Louvre agents quickly made their way to the room, forcing the burglars to flee, but it was already too late.

At 9:38 am, the thieves made their swift getaway, less than four minutes after initially breaking in. They descended the ladder and escaped on two motorbikes, leaving behind the ladder-mounted truck they used to get in. 
In their rush to leave, the thieves dropped the stolen crown of Empress Eugénie, which was recovered by the police but tragically damaged.

Police arrived within minutes and found the tools left behind by the offenders, which included two angle grinders, gloves, a blowtorch, a walkie-talkie, gasoline, and a blanket. They also found a yellow vest dropped by one of the thieves several blocks away from the museum.

By 10:40 am, the theft had been publicly announced, and the museum had shut, remaining closed for 3 days, until the following Wednesday.

Culture Minister Dati has told new outlets that, through reviewing the security footage, it has been determined that the thieves were very professional and experienced. This is due to the fact that they don’t target people, and no one was injured; instead, they entered calmly with a very well-prepared plan of action and escape.

So what was stolen? The Gallery of Apollo contains France’s historic collection of Crown Jewels. The perpetrators attempted to steal nine priceless pieces, primarily belonging to Emperor Napoleon III and his wife, Empress Eugénie, and successfully escaped with eight of them.

The eight irreplaceable stolen items were valued at a staggering $102 million (€88 million) and included countless treasured pieces of France’s history, such as: the Tiara of Empress Eugénie, Empress Eugénie’s decorative bow, Empress Eugénie’s brooch, parts of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s emerald wedding gift set (worn by his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise), and a sapphire tiara, necklace, and single earring bellowing to French Queen Marie-Amélie.

But how did this happen? How did four people manage to rob the most famous museum in the world in just seven minutes? Ultimately, at least according to the management representing the Louvre, it comes down to old and failing security systems with insufficient coverage and too few staff. 

Des Cars, the president and director of the Louvre, admitted in a hearing following the robbery that the security system had many flaws. She also explained that she had raised concerns many times about the proficiency of security in the Louvre, among other issues.

While there was a plan in place to update the ageing and weak systems of the museum, it was planned too late, and the worst fears of all involved have just come true. So while all the cameras and alarms did work perfectly, the weakness in the security still allowed the break-in to happen. Des Cars also explained that the ageing infrastructure of the 232-year-old museum had hindered the installation of more modern equipment.

“We did not spot the criminals arriving from outside early enough,” said Des Cars during her testimony in front of France’s Senate Cultural Committee. She also admitted that the only camera installed outside the Apollo gallery was facing West and did not spot the thieves breaking in or escaping. A preliminary report also revealed that one in three rooms of the raided area had no CCTV cameras.

Des Cars has since promised to not only update the security camera system but also create a no-parking zone around the museum and request that a police station be established inside the museum.
It is rather clear that the heist is an embarrassment to the Louvre, the ministers and France as a whole.

On that note, the heist has sparked national outcry and put a lot of heat on those responsible for letting this happen. The public is both very upset and angry about the burglary. 

Natalie Goulet, a member of the French Senate’s Finance Committee, has described the heist as a “very painful episode for France”, saying “We are all disappointed and angry” and that it is “difficult to understand how it happened so easily”.

Other prominent political figures have described what has happened as “an attack on our history” and that it was an “intolerable humiliation” and a “wound to the French soul”.  As said by a French teacher, “How can they ride a lift to a window and take jewels in the middle of the day?” and “It’s just unbelievable that a museum this famous can have such obvious security gaps.”

Des Cars had said in her opening statement that "This tragedy deeply shocked museum staff, fellow citizens, and admirers of the Louvre around the world," and continued with "This is an immense wound that has been inflicted on us."

The French President Emmanuel Macron stated, “The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history,” continuing with “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 public prosecutor’s office. The ‘Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance’ project, which we launched in January, provides for enhanced security. It will ensure the preservation and protection of what constitutes our memory and our culture.”

While officials have described the haul as of “inestimable” historical value, there is a worry about the possibility of recovery of the stolen items. “It’s unlikely these jewels will ever be seen again,” said the managing director of 77 Diamonds. This is because professional crews will often break down gems in order to sell them without detection.

So far, two out of four perpetrators have been arrested. One of the suspects was arrested at 10 pm on Saturday, October 25th, at the airport while trying to board a plane to Algeria, and the other suspect was caught by police while leaving for Mali. There is still a nationwide manhunt for the remaining two suspects.

The men who are allegedly involved in the heist have not been named publicly; however, they are both around age 30, and one of them has dual citizenship in France and Algeria, while the other has dual citizenship in France and Mali. Both were already known to the police from past burglary cases.

 A source close to the French Minister of the Interior told ABC News that, in a helmet and gloves that the thieves left behind during their getaway, trace samples of DNA evidence were collected, including fingerprints. This recovered DNA evidence has been matched to one of the suspects.
Officials say the evidence collected points to organised crime, but that investigators have not ruled out the possibility that the heist may have had a source inside the Louvre to help pull it off.

Regardless of the tragedy behind the missing pieces, you have to admit that it’s kind of funny that such a famous museum was so easily robbed. If you do feel this way, rest assured, you are not the only one. Many people across social media responded to the heist with lighthearted and funny posts about who may be behind the heist and aesthetic videos about what it must’ve felt like to rob the world’s most distinguished museum. 

The German company whose furniture lift was used by the thieves during the heist decided to make use of the free marketing by launching a new advertising campaign featuring the image of the robbery.

Alexander Böcker, the company’s managing director, said that once it was clear no one was hurt in the escapade that they took the chance and used “a touch of humour” to draw attention to a family-run business. Mr Böcker said, "The crime is, of course, absolutely reprehensible, that's completely clear to us," and "It was... an opportunity for us to use the most famous and most visited museum in the world to get a little attention for our company."