France's Culture Minister, Rachida Dati, said the Louvre museum remains closed on Sunday after a robbery took place.
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A robbery that took place at the Louvre museum in Paris on Sunday morning has forced the institution to close for the rest of the day, France's Culture Minsiter Rachida Dati has announced.
Dati wrote on social media there were "no injuries to report," adding "I am on site alongside the museum teams and the police. Investigations under way."
In a post on X the Louvre confirmed it will be closed "for exceptional reasons".
Local newspaper Le Parisien reported that nine pieces were stolen from the Napoleon and the Empress's jewellery collection in the Apollo Gallery, including a necklace, a brooch, a tiara and more.
The paper added that three robbers used a freight elevator to gain access to the room via the Seine-facing facade of the museum, breaking windows to enter the building.
One witness, Kaci Benedetti, described in a post on X scenes of panic inside the museum as people tried to exit when police arrived.
An internal source at the Louvre was cited by Le Parisien saying the famous Regent diamond, the largest in the collection at more than 140 carats, was not stolen.
The Louvre has a long history of thefts and attempted robberies. The most famous was in 1911, when the Mona Lisa vanished from its frame, stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a former worker who hid inside the museum and walked out with the painting under his coat. It was recovered two years later in Florence — an episode that helped make Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait the world’s best-known artwork.
In 1983, two Renaissance-era pieces of armor 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 — 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.
