The gang of thieves who robbed the Louvre on Sunday and made off with some of France’s most famous crown jewels could finally have their loot melted, a former FBI art crime expert said.
Tim Carpenter also suggested that the team of robbers behind the ‘shocking’ operation were focusing on treasures of enormous cultural and historical value.
“They knew exactly what they were going for, and they understood the value and cultural significance of these pieces,” he continued. “They also understood that this was extremely important for the French people.”
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Forensic police officers arrive at the Louvre Museum after reports of a robbery in Paris, France, October 19, 2025. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)
Also “shocking,” Carpenter noted, “is that it was a daytime robbery while the museum was open.”
The Louvre was forced to close its doors after the daring morning theft, which took place within seven minutes and left police racing to get the jewels back.
The raid, around 9:30 a.m. local time, targeted the museum’s Apollo Gallery, home to historical treasures related to Napoleon and Empress Eugénie.
The crew reportedly stole a crown believed to have belonged to Empress Eugénie. Le Parisien reported.
According to De Associated pressEight items were taken, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a matching set associated with 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense.
An emerald necklace and earrings from Empress Marie-Louise’s matching set were also reportedly snatched alongside a reliquary brooch, Empress Eugénie’s diadem and her large brooch with corsage bow.
“They can be melted down or taken apart,” Carpenter explained. “They knock stones out of the crowns, cut the stones and market them individually.”
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Thieves carried out a daytime heist at the Louvre, stealing French crown jewels. (Thibault Camus/AP)
According to French daily Le Parisien, the thieves, two of whom were disguised as construction workers, entered the museum after parking next to it. They extended an elevator to a first-floor window and smashed it open with an angle grinder.
The time “is when the museum is the most chaotic. People start to settle in,” Carpenter added.
“They broke through a window and made it very brazen. These guys are fast and they move fast with a purpose, and they break in, and they get in there very quickly,” he added.
After the robbery, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez spoke to the radio station France Inter and said the thieves “entered from outside using a basket lift” and “a disc cutter” to cut windows containing valuable jewelry.
“The investigation has begun and a detailed list of the stolen items is being compiled,” the ministry also said in a statement. “In addition to their market value, these items have invaluable heritage and historical value.”
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The Louvre is the largest and probably busiest museum in the world. (iStock)
“Being a historic building, natural vulnerabilities just happen, and these guys just found one and found a way to exploit it,” Carpenter said.
“That’s definitely a risk,” he continued. “When you look at a building like the Louvre… there always has to be a balance.”
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“I think the local authorities there have a very good chance of conducting a really effective criminal investigation, identifying these perpetrators and hopefully recovering these pieces before they are lost to us,” Carpenter concluded.
