Two robbers have been caught on video fleeing the the Louvre Museum slow motion after stealing a French crown worth 88 million euros (76 million pounds). This is the latest dramatic episode in the country’s worst heist in decades.
The 36-second video, confirmed by the newspaper Le Parisien, shows two men dressed in black carefully descending a furniture lift from the museum’s Apollo Gallery. One of them is wearing a motorcycle helmet, while the other is wearing a yellow high-vis vest.
The Heist at the Museum
The photo appears to have been taken from a window of a nearby museum overlooking Quai François Mitterrand, where the robbers had parked a stolen truck equipped with a basket lift and a 30-meter (90-foot) extendable ladder to reach the exhibits on the first floor.
“These guys are on scooters,” a voice, possibly belonging to a security guard, says over a walkie-talkie. “They’re leaving, they’re leaving.” A few seconds later, the men are seen leaving on two scooters.
Then a male voice says, “They’re leaving,” and another voice shouts, “Hey, we’re leaving”—the police.
A furniture elevator near the Louvre
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At 9:30 a.m., two members of a group of four entered the gallery. On Sunday, just after the museum opened, they broke an unguarded glass and then used a disc cutter to pry open two jewelry display cases.
They took eight pieces of jewelry, including a tiara that once belonged to Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, and a diamond-and-emerald necklace that Napoleon I had gifted to his second wife, Marie Louise.
According to French media, the two males who entered the gallery were there for 3 minutes and 58 seconds, and the incident continued less than seven minutes. According to French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, the case is being investigated by over 100 detectives.
In response to senators’ queries on Wednesday, Laurence des Cars, the director of the most popular museum in the world, acknowledged a “catastrophic failure” and said that security cameras on the outside walls of the enormous structure were “grossly inadequate.”
Ongoing Investigation
Investigation Update (as of October 24, 2025) Police have recovered 150 DNA samples and fingerprints from a discarded helmet and gloves, but no arrests have yet been made.
A Wake-Up Call for Museum Security
Director Laurence des Cars offered to resign voluntarily but was dissuaded from doing so. The the Louvre Museum was closed for two days following the crime and plans are underway to double the number of its CCTV cameras.
In light of previous thefts (such as the one at the Paris Natural History in September 2025), French officials, including Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, have acknowledged security shortcomings, sparking discussions about museum security.
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