How Louvre gang carried out France's most shocking theft

Interior view of the Apollo Gallery in the Louvre Museum, Paris, showcasing its opulent Baroque design. The vaulted ceiling is richly adorned with gold detailing, intricate moldings, and large painted panels depicting mythological scenes. Gilded frames and sculptures line the walls, while visitors walk along the polished wooden floor, observing artifacts displayed in glass cases and atop ornate golden tables.

The sun was already up over Paris and visitors had started to file through the Louvre Museum's corridors when the gang struck.

Within eight minutes, they were speeding away from the heart of the French capital with some of the nation's most valuable treasure.

This is how one of the most shocking thefts in recent memory unfolded.

 

How did the thieves get in?

An aerial view of Paris from Google Earth, focusing on the Louvre Museum as seen from the south. The 3D model of the buildings which make up the Louvre is highlighted with the river Seine in front and the Jardin des Tuileries to the west.

Sunday's spectacular raid played out in the Gallery of Apollo at the south-east corner of the world's most visited museum, which is housed in a sprawling palace on the banks of the River Seine.

The aerial view of the Louvre now highlights the famous Louvre Pyramid in the central courtyard and the Gallery of Apollo on the south side of the building where a major road runs between the gallery and the Seine. The location of the Mona Lisa in a nearby gallery is also highlighted.

Visitors began entering via the main entrance - marked by its iconic glass pyramid - at 09:00 to see exhibits like Da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

Another image from Google Earth, with a closer view of the wing of the building where the Gallery of Apollo is located, showing its position on the southeastern corner of the museum. A model of a truck appears with a mechanical ladder leant up against the building, indicating how the robbers gained entrance to the gallery on the first floor.

But around 180m (593ft) away from the museum's main entrance, a truck with a set of mechanical ladders mounted on it was pulling up on the pavement just across from the river. It signalled the start of a heist which has shocked the world.

At 09:30, two members of the four-strong gang began climbing the ladder onto a balcony leading on to a double window.

The glass and wooden panes were little match for the gang's motorised angle grinders: French authorities have confirmed that the opulent gallery's windows are not reinforced.

The interior of the Gallery of Apollo with tall windows along the left wall through which sunlight is falling onto the wooden parquet floor. Every surface is ornately decorated; the high-vaulted ceiling is painted with frescos and adorned with statues, and baroque gold leaf decorations flow down the walls, which also feature large portraits. In the centre of the room are a series of display cases. The three in the centre are tall and constructed from metal, other cases are more like tables with glass cases set on top. At the end of the room there is a large set of doors which are mostly glass, letting light flood into the room.

By 09:34, the thieves were inside. Unarmed guards fled as the masked intruders stormed towards them with their power tools.

Now only a few inches of glass stood between them and items of incalculable value.

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They had gained access to the Gallery of Apollo, a lavish hall which has housed the French crown jewels for well over a century.

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This is the window they broke into, using an angle grinder.

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The collection of items worn by French royalty and imperial rulers sits in metal cabinets surrounded by the gallery’s golden grandeur and 19th Century paintings.

Footage obtained by the French broadcaster BFMTV appears to show one of the men, wearing a hi-vis vest, using an angle grinder to force open a display case.

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BBC Verify has confirmed the footage was shot from the south-west corner of the gallery.

CCTV images from inside the museum confirm it took them no more than three minutes and 57 seconds to force their way into two cases, grab the jewels and leave, a French minister has said.

The thieves were quick and deliberate: they knew exactly what they were there for.

France's crown jewels consist of what could be saved or recovered after the 1789 Revolution. Most of what was in the cases dated from the 19th Century, worn by the two imperial families of Napoleon and his nephew Napoleon III.

 

The missing objects

In total, eight items were taken. French officials have described the haul as priceless. Beyond the raw value of the precious stones and metals, they have what one minister described as "immeasurable" heritage value.

The eight items from the French royal jewels that were stolen by the thieves. The items are set out on a black background with accompanying numbers.

The items

1-3 Tiara, necklace and a pair of earrings worn by Queen Hortense and Queen Marie-Amélie

4-5 Emerald necklace and earrings given as a wedding gift by Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife Marie-Louise

6-7 Pearl and diamond tiara and diamond brooch of Empress Eugénie

8 Brooch known as the 'reliquary brooch'

But it didn't go entirely to plan: the Eugénie Crown was found damaged on the escape route, police have confirmed, seemingly dropped.

The Eugénie crown, which is gold, encrusted with diamonds and emeralds and has a repeated motif around its circumference of eagles with their wings held aloft.

French prosecutors have also revealed the two thieves left behind some equipment, including one of the hi-vis jackets, which will be analysed by police.

By 09:35, word was spreading among museum staff that something was happening in the Gallery of Apollo. An alarm sounded in a control room but it is not clear how widely it was heard. Police are still investigating whether it was functioning properly.

One witness told the BBC he saw guards marching people away from the Gallery of Apollo, while others rushed towards it.

He said guests were initially ushered towards another part of the museum but the "atmosphere changed" as another message came through on their radios.

Before leaving at around 09:38, the thieves attempted to set fire to the mechanical ladders they had used to gain access, before reportedly mounting Yamaha TMAX scooters, which are capable of reaching over 100mph, and escaping through Paris's narrow streets.

Escape route map

Investigators believe they headed south in the direction of the A6 highway, a main road leading out of the city.

For now, where they fled to remains a mystery - and any clue as to their whereabouts is worth as much to French police as the jewels they took.

 

Additional reporting: Sean Seddon, Richard Irvine-Brown and Paul Kirby

Media credits

Louvre Museum, RMN - Grand Palais, BFMTV, Getty Images