Thieves stole Napoleonic jewels Sunday, Oct. 19 at around 9:30 a.m. at the Louvre. The theft was done in seven minutes after breaking in through a window. They reached the window by having a ladder on top of a truck. The guards evacuated after threats from the criminals, and as protocol, they focused on visitor safety and not engaging with armed robbers. The thieves escaped on motorcycles and have yet to be caught.
Art Club President senior Dakota Walker said, “I think it’s really interesting because it has so much historic art. It’s very artistic in the display itself and I feel like that’s the great thing about art museums. There’s so many history pieces. [It’s] not just about art, but it’s about history.”
The thieves were dressed in construction worker uniforms. They wore yellow and orange safety vests to seem genuine. They used small chain saws, box cutters, and a disc cutter to cut glass and smash cases. There were luckily no injuries but police are still looking for the thieves.
“I’d highly recommend looking into more art heists because they’re always interesting to learn about,” Walker said. “I feel like they could have done more, just in going to. If an art heist is gonna happen, especially somewhere like the Louvre, it’s going to be planned.”
The BBC reported that an emerald necklace and emerald earrings from Empress Marie Louise, a necklace and single sapphire earring, two tiaras and a brooch were stolen. These jewels were considered priceless and people fear they will be gone forever because most thieves break up the jewels to sell.
“It’s horrifying because these are really important significant pieces from history. The thing about the theft of stuff like this is that normally they will break down the pieces… If we do recover them they’re probably not going to be the same as they once were,” said Walker.
It reminds people of how the “Mona Lisa” was stolen in 1911 by an Italian museum employee. He hid the painting under his coat, and it was recovered two years later. When he tried to sell it, he was caught and the painting was brought back to its home in the Louvre. Also in 1998, a painting from the 1850s “Le chemin de Sèvres” was stolen and still hasn’t been recovered.
“I don’t think anybody has robbed it in a long time which the fact that somebody did is threatening. [It threatens] the government and history itself. [I feel] disgusted because if you steal somebody else’s art then you’re stealing their vision and creativity, and I don’t like that,” said sophomore Astro Brown.
Brown made a joke about not having any windows in art galleries. They also said that museum guards should be armed in some way.
The Louvre was closed the rest of Sunday and Monday for more investigations to the crime. Visitors were swept out of the building for their safety and have been reimbursed. The Louvre reopened to visitors Wednesday and the staff hopes to continue tours.
