Louvre Museum closed after robbery this Sunday

The criminals, whose number has not yet been released, would have arrived on a scooter and used a freight elevator to access the room of interest. They were armed with small chainsaws, according to a police source.

According to French media reports, nine pieces from Napoleon and the empress’s jewelry collection were stolen: a necklace, a brooch, a tiara and more. The extent of the damage has not yet been determined.

The French newspaper Le Parisien stated, based on information from an internal source at the Louvre, that the largest diamond in the collection was not stolen.

The Regent diamond weighs 140 carats and was mounted on a parade sword that Napoleon used at his coronation in 1804.

The theft was announced by the French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati.

In a message on her X account, Dati stated that the robbery occurred during the opening of the Louvre and that she was already there, with the museum team and the police. “Investigations are ongoing,” he added.