French authorities have arrested multiple suspects in connection with the audacious theft of France’s Crown Jewels from the Louvre museum, a heist that stunned the art world and exposed security lapses at one of the world’s most visited cultural institutions.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirmed Sunday that the arrests were made Saturday evening, one week after the jewels — valued at €88 million ($102 million) — were stolen in a lightning-fast operation that lasted less than eight minutes. One suspect was detained while preparing to leave the country from Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport, Beccuau said in a statement.
While French media outlets BFM TV and Le Parisien reported that two men were in custody, Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests and declined to say whether any of the stolen treasures had been recovered. She emphasized that the investigation remains ongoing and warned that premature leaks of information could jeopardize the work of the more than 100 officers assigned to the case.
The arrests were carried out by France’s elite police unit specializing in armed robberies, major burglaries, and art thefts. “These investigators have been mobilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators,” Beccuau said.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez praised the operation, commending “the investigators who have worked tirelessly, just as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence.”
The Louvre, which reopened earlier this week, remains at the center of what experts are calling one of the most significant museum thefts in decades. Officials said the thieves used a basket lift to scale the museum’s façade, forced open a window, smashed display cases, and escaped within minutes before guards could respond. “It was a terrible failure,” the museum’s director admitted after the theft.
Among the stolen pieces were eight priceless objects from France’s royal and imperial heritage, including a sapphire diadem, a necklace, and an earring set once belonging to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense. The thieves also made off with an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, and a reliquary brooch.
The most valuable missing items included Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and a large corsage-bow brooch, both described as masterpieces of imperial jewelry. One significant piece — Eugénie’s emerald-studded imperial crown adorned with over 1,300 diamonds — was later discovered damaged but recoverable outside the museum.
The theft has been described by cultural observers as a symbolic blow to France’s national identity, with some comparing it to the 2019 fire that devastated Notre Dame Cathedral. The investigation continues as authorities work to track down the remaining culprits and recover the missing jewels.
