Police arrest two suspects over Louvre theft
Prosecutors have taken two suspects into custody a week after a heist at the world鈥檚 most visited museum shocked Paris.
Visitors queue to enter the Louvre museum three days after historic jewels were stolen in a daylight heist, Oct. 22, 2025 in Paris.
AP Photo/Thibault Camus
Paris
Suspects have been arrested in connection with the theft of crown jewels from Paris鈥� Louvre museum, the Paris prosecutor said on Sunday, a week after the heist that stunned the world.
The prosecutor said that investigators made the arrests on Saturday evening, adding that one of the men taken into custody was preparing to leave the country from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that two suspects had been arrested and taken into custody. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests and did not say whether any jewels had been recovered.
Thieves took less than eight minutes last Sunday morning to steal jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102 million) from the world鈥檚 most-visited museum. French officials described how the intruders used a basket lift to scale the Louvre鈥檚 fa莽ade, forced open a window, smashed display cases and fled. The museum鈥檚 director called the incident a 鈥渢errible failure.鈥�
Ms. Beccuau said investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries, and art thefts made the arrests. In her statement, she rued the premature leak of information, saying it could hinder the work of over 100 investigators 鈥渕obilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators.鈥� Ms. Beccuau said further details will be unveiled after the suspects鈥� custody period ends.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nu帽ez praised 鈥渢he investigators who have worked tirelessly, just as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence.鈥�
The Louvre reopened earlier this week after one of the highest-profile museum thefts of the century stunned the world with its audacity and scale.
The thieves slipped in and out, making off with parts of France鈥檚 Crown Jewels 鈥� a cultural wound that some compared to the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019.
The thieves made away with a total of eight objects, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Am茅lie and Hortense.
They also took an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte鈥檚 second wife, as well as a reliquary brooch. Empress Eug茅nie鈥檚 diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch 鈥� an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship 鈥� were also part of the loot.
One piece 鈥� Eug茅nie鈥檚 emerald-set imperial crown with more than 1,300 diamonds 鈥� was later found outside the museum, damaged but repairable.
News of the arrests was met with relief by Louvre visitors and passersby on Sunday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for our heritage. A week later, it does feel a bit late, we wonder how this could even happen 鈥� but it was important that the guys were caught,鈥� said Freddy Jacquemet.
鈥淚 think the main thing now is whether they can recover the jewels,鈥� added Diana Ramirez. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what really matters.鈥�