In a brazen act of theft, nine pieces from the historic jewelry collection of Napoleon and the Empress were stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday morning. The perpetrators reportedly used a basket lift to access the museum, targeting the Galerie d’Apollon, where part of the French Crown Jewels are displayed. The incident occurred while tourists were inside the gallery, prompting the museum to close for the day as police secured the premises and evacuated visitors. This heist adds to the Louvre’s long history of thefts, including the infamous 1911 disappearance of the Mona Lisa, which was stolen by a former worker and recovered two years later in Florence. The incident underscores the vulnerability of even the most secure cultural institutions. Meanwhile, other notable art heists include the unsolved 1990 theft of 13 works from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, valued at half a billion dollars, and the 2017 theft of a 100-kilogram solid-gold coin from Berlin’s Bode Museum. These incidents highlight the ongoing challenges museums face in protecting priceless artifacts from determined thieves.
Thieves hit the Louvre again. Here’s a look at other famous heists in museums worldwide
