Louvre Heist Revitalizes Doubt

Addison Pendegraft, section editor

If someone needs a new storage room, the Louvre now has room to spare! Though trusting the Louvre’s security probably isn’t wise as on Oct. 19, 2025, the Louvre was robbed in just eight minutes. This memorable heist was committed in broad daylight; the robbers only spent four minutes in the building and left behind several items with their DNA on it. 

The target of the heist was the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery, which contains France’s historic crown jewels. The items stolen included priceless pieces like parts of Napoleon’s emerald wedding gift set, a sapphire tiara, necklace and earrings. Along with Empress Eugénie’s Tiara, a diamond-accented decorative bow and her diamond brooch. The recovered item was the diamond and emerald-studded crown of Empress Eugénie, which was tragically found damaged outside the Louvre after apparently being dropped during the robbery. In total, these historically significant pieces are valued at approximately $102 million, a frankly obscene amount of money for such utterly pathetic security measures.  

The suspects arrived with a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the Apollo Gallery via a balcony close to the River Seine. Two of the thieves entered by cutting through the window with power tools. They then proceeded to threaten the guards, who evacuated the premises and cut through the glass of two display cases containing jewels.  

This oversight has become especially apparent as a recent Court of Auditors report by France's national cybersecurity agency (ANSSI) found that the password for the Louvre's video surveillance server was simply "Louvre.” The report also found that the Louvre prioritized “visible and attractive” art acquisitions over crucial security upgrades between 2018 and 2024. The report called the pace of security upgrades "wholly inadequate," noting that only 39 percent  of rooms had CCTV cameras as of 2024, and that essential security modernizations were repeatedly postponed. 

Gérald Darmanin, France's justice minister, has conceded security protocols “failed,” leaving the country with a “terrible image.” Didier Rykner, one of France's leading art experts, has accused the museum of preferring to spend its "abundant" resources on eye-catching initiatives rather than basic protection of what it already has, which disappointingly seems to be the case. 

This event was a remarkable demonstration of oversight and incompetency on part of the Louvre’s security. Though it does have some highlights as the internet has taken this incident with stride. Exceptionally so, in fact, as the collective whole of TikTok has had a field day both clowning on the Louvre and investing themselves in the robbers, with some even dubbing one of the suspects a "hottie" after his mugshot went viral. There’s been several trends going around of people dressing as the heist robbers with the stolen jewels for Halloween, creating POV videos of the robbers and jokingly asking one another if they had visited Paris recently. 

TikTok has taken this exciting incident in stride, going so far as to create an entire fandom based on the robbery with several original characters to boot. And with every new piece of info about the robbery is revealed, their storyline and interrelationship drama grows. It has also revitalized several fandoms such as “Six of Crows”, a novel by Leigh Bardugo that follows the story of six robbers attempting an “impossible” heist and Carmen Sandiego, a Netflix show about a master thief who uses her skills for good with the help of her friends. 

As of Nov. 11, four people have been arrested and charged in connection with the Louvre crown jewels heist. And two suspects have partially admitted their involvement, while two others, a man and a woman, deny any role. A fifth person, the main thief, is believed to be still at large. And other than the crown of Empress Eugénie, all the stolen jewels remain missing.