The Louvre Art Museum, one of the most prominent museums in the world, was robbed on Oct. 19. The heist was a high-profile theft in which thieves successfully stole Napoleonic jewels from the Apollo Art Gallery. The series of lootings lost the Louvre accumulated to more than $100 million in precious and historic artifacts. The thieves also trashed the Imperial Crown of Empress Eugénie along the side of the museum.
The Louvre Museum is currently under construction. Posing as construction workers, the thieves were able to use power tools to cut through a window, gaining access to the museum, and giving them a backdoor to enter the Apollo Gallery Jewel Room on the first floor. The gallery is less than 300 yards from Leonardo Davinci’s famed Mona Lisa painting.
Approximately eight items were stolen from the Louvre. Museum staff have recorded the loss of several priceless items, including a diamond necklace Napoleon gave to his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise of Austria.
“I cannot believe thefts like these still happen today. I hope they catch the perpetrators soon so France can enjoy its historic items. The jewels rightfully belong to the Museum of the Louvre,” said freshman Carmela Polydorou.
Four suspects currently face preliminary charges of theft by an alleged organized gang and criminal conspiracy. The four suspects have been incarcerated, but one member still remains at large. Two of the suspects have admitted partial participation in the heist.
One suspect, a 34-year-old Algerian national and French citizen, was caught at the Charles de Gaulle Airport after attempting to board a one way flight back to Algeria. Another suspect, a famous social media star and 37-year-old man known as Doudou Cross Bitume to his online platform, has been identified and arrested in his Aubervilliers home. Bitume’s DNA was found on a glass case broken by the thieves. The third suspect is a woman, the wife of Bitume. While her DNA was found on a cherry picker, prosecutors believe her DNA may have been transferred from another person. The final suspect is a 39-year-old Aubervilliers resident with an extensive criminal record in several thefts. His DNA was also found on the glass case.
Besides Bitume, no other suspect names have been released. Each suspect is awaiting trial dates which have been postponed from Nov. 2025 to Apr. 2026, regarding significant publicity on social media.
“I first heard about the heist on TikTok, and from that point on, I saw numerous posts about it. I thought the heist was the coolest thing to happen in recent history, and I, like many others on social media, was in support of the thieves just because of the excitement of the whole media frenzy,” said sophomore Elena Gibbons.
The Louvre has reportedly been under a large staff shortage as a result of various strikes leaving “too few eyes on too many rooms,” according to an employee letter addressing recent limitations of Louvre visitors. In 2023, the Louvre reduced their visitor count to 30,000 a day, roughly a third of their previous regulatory average. Despite reducing tourist count, the Louvre amassed 8.7 million visitors in 2024 alone.
“The Louvre’s tourist count per day is among the highest it has ever been. I understand the staff shortage, but the Louvre staff really should have put more effort into the security and criminal action system. It really was interesting to see how this heist played out,” said senior Aurora Mata.
Though officials haven’t determined an exact connection between the heist and a staff shortage, they seem to be linked. Laurence De Cars, the formal director of the Louvre, announced her resignation due to the heist, which De Cars claimed was a result of poor security concerns stemming from the recent staff shortage. De Cars’s request for departure, however, was rejected by the Louvre Committee. De Cars has acknowledged failure and apologized to tourists on behalf of the Louvre Museum staff.