Tourist Asked Cop Why Louvre Was Shut, Was Told To "Watch The News"

If you search 'must-visit places in Paris', you will probably find the world-famous Louvre Museum on the top, right after the Eiffel Tower. But many tourists were sent back on Sunday, unable to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa, after the museum was unexpectedly shut following an early-morning robbery.

The confused tourists gathered outside, wondering what must have been the case. "What's going on?" one visitor asked. "Watch the news," replied a policewoman guarding the barricades.

What Happened?

France's Culture Minister Rachida Dati first reported the heist. "A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum. No injuries reported. I'm on the site with museum staff and police," she said. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the theft lasted only seven minutes, calling the stolen items "priceless jewellery."

The museum cited "exceptional reasons" for the closure, and the Paris prosecutor's office launched an investigation and began assessing the damage.

How Did The Robbery Unfold?

Police sources told AFP that the robbers arrived on a scooter carrying disc cutters and used a goods lift to reach their target. The thieves escaped with jewellery, whose value is still being determined.

According to reports, Napoleon-era jewels were stolen during the heist.

French daily Le Parisien reported that the robbers entered via the under-construction Seine-facing facade, accessed the Apollo Gallery using a goods lift, and broke windows to steal nine pieces from the jewellery collection of Napoleon and Empress Joséphine.

Visuals from the museum showed barricades erected around the museum, and traffic was blocked near the Louvre Pyramid. Gates along the Seine side were shut as police combed the scene.

Videos showed tourists waiting outside the museum, which welcomes around 30,000 visitors daily and displays over 33,000 artefacts.

Notably, this is not the first time the Louvre has witnessed a heist. In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen by a former museum worker, Vincenzo Peruggia, who hid the painting under his coat and smuggled it out. It was recovered in Italy's Florence two years later.