Manhunt launched after daring daylight jewel heist at Louvre Museum

French authorities launched a full-scale manhunt on Monday for the thieves who stole eight priceless royal pieces of jewellery from the Louvre Museum in broad daylight on Sunday morning. Officials say a team of 60 investigators is pursuing leads as they probe the audacious heist.

The theft, carried out just half an hour after the museum opened, has reignited debates over security gaps in French cultural institutions.

The thieves struck between 9.30 and 9.40am Sunday, shortly after the museum opened at 9.00am, according to investigators. Using a truck with an extendable ladder — like those used by movers — they reached the Apollon Gallery, home to the Crown Jewels, and cut through a window to access the display cases. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez described it as a “major robbery” lasting just minutes.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati described the operation as a professional “four-minute” strike, while other officials estimated the entire robbery lasted around seven minutes.

The thieves took eight objects of “inestimable heritage value”:

After smashing two display cases, the thieves fled on motorbikes — reportedly TMax scooters — leaving behind some of their equipment, including the lift used to access the gallery. No one was hurt during the raid.

Alarms at the exterior window and the display cases were triggered immediately, prompting museum guards to intervene. However, the thieves had already completed their theft. Officials said security measures at the Louvre had been strengthened in recent years, with new-generation cameras, perimeter detection, and a security control room, though critics say the measures came too late.

Forensic teams are combing the museum and adjacent areas for clues, reviewing CCTV footage from the Denon wing and the riverfront, inspecting the lift used by the thieves, and interviewing museum staff present when the museum opened. The Paris public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into organised theft and criminal conspiracy.

French media report four perpetrators: two disguised as construction workers operating the lift and two others on scooters. Authorities have not confirmed the exact number or whether there was inside assistance.

Experts warn the jewels may be difficult to recover, as professional thieves often break down and re-cut large, recognisable stones to erase their provenance. “It’s unlikely these jewels will ever be seen again,” said Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds.

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin admitted security flaws: “What is certain is that we have failed, since people were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of Paris… and give France a terrible image.” Interior Minister Nunez noted that museum security remains a “major weak spot.”

Far-right National Rally leader Jordan Bardella called the theft “an unbearable humiliation for our country,” asking, “How far will the disintegration of the state go?” President Emmanuel Macron pledged on social media that “everything” is being done to catch the perpetrators and recover the stolen treasures.

Witnesses described stunned visitors being guided out of the museum’s glass pyramid and surrounding courtyards as streets along the Seine were closed. “How can they ride a lift to a window and take jewels in the middle of the day? It’s just unbelievable,” said Magali Cunel, a French teacher near Lyon.

The Louvre raid follows a string of daylight robberies at French museums: in September, gold samples worth $700,000 were stolen from Paris’s Natural History Museum, and a museum in Limoges lost items valued at $7.6 million.

The museum closed Sunday to allow forensic teams to investigate. Plans for security upgrades, part of the €700 million “Louvre New Renaissance” modernisation, include enhanced cameras, perimeter detection, and a new security control room. Critics, however, say security for many of its 33,000 objects remains uneven.

Daylight robberies in major museums are rare. The audacity of the raid, conducted in the presence of visitors, makes it one of Europe’s most high-profile thefts in recent memory. It also underscores ongoing tensions between mass tourism, understaffed security, and the protection of invaluable heritage.

- with inputs from AFP, AP and Bloomberg