“I am currently at the location with museum staff and the police,” she announced on X.
Meanwhile, the Louvre Museum shared on the same platform that it would “stay closed today due to extraordinary circumstances.”
According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, the suspects gained entry into the renowned museum, once a royal palace, through the facade facing the Seine River, which is under construction.
The report detailed that they utilized a freight elevator to access a specific room in the Apollo Gallery directly.
They allegedly smashed windows and made off with “nine pieces from Napoleon and the Empress’s jewelry collection.”
The Louvre is no stranger to thefts and robbery attempts. Its most notorious incident occurred in 1911 when the Mona Lisa was stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a former employee who concealed himself inside and exited with the painting hidden under his coat. The masterpiece was recovered two years later in Florence, an event that contributed to the Mona Lisa’s fame as the world’s most recognizable piece of art.
In 1983, two Renaissance-era pieces of armour were stolen from the Louvre and only recovered nearly four decades later. The museum’s collection also bears the legacy of Napoleonic-era looting that continues to spark restitution debates today.
The Louvre is home to more than 33,000 works spanning antiquities, sculpture and painting â from Mesopotamia, Egypt and the classical world to European masters. Its star attractions include the Mona Lisa, as well as the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
The Galerie d’Apollon, where Sunday’s theft reportedly took place, displays a selection of the French Crown Jewels.
The museum can draw up to 30,000 visitors a day.
