1 / 6How the Louvre Heist Happened | On Sunday morning, October 19, robbers dressed as workers arrived at the Louvre along the Seine. Using an extendable ladder, they accessed an upper window of the Galerie d’Apollon and stole priceless items, including Napoleon-era diamonds and emeralds. French President Emmanuel Macron vowed on X that the stolen treasures would be recovered and the culprits brought to justice. This daring theft adds to a long list of bold museum robberies from around the world. (Image: Reuters)
2 / 6The British Museum, London (2023) | The world’s oldest national public museum, the British Museum in 2023 reported that around 1,500 artefacts, including gold jewellery and gems, had been stolen over a “considerable period of time” period of time. Many of the stolen gems and stones were not registered. An independent review at the time told the museum to maintain better records of the items. According to Reuters, the number of stolen artefacts stands at 2,000. (Image: Canva)
3 / 6Bode Museum, Berlin (2017) | In 2017, thieves stole a 100-kg pure gold “Big Maple Leaf” coin—worth around $4 million—from Berlin’s Bode Museum. The coin, on loan from a private collector, was taken in a daring 3 a.m. break-in just hours before it was set to be moved. Despite arrests, the coin was never recovered and is believed to have been melted down. In 2020, three men, including a museum security guard, were convicted and sentenced to up to four years in prison. (Image: Reuters)
4 / 6Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston (1990) | In 1990, two men disguised as police officers pulled off the largest art heist in US history at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. They tied up the guards and stole 13 artworks worth over $500 million, including pieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Degas. Decades of investigation led nowhere, and the artworks are still missing. However, the museum describes it as an “active and ongoing” investigation, promising a reward of $10 million for information leading to the recovery of the stolen works. (Image: Reuters)
5 / 6Theft of Courbet’s The Wave (1971) | Gustave Courbet’s painting The Wave was stolen from the Louvre in 1971. The circumstances of the theft remain unsolved, and the artwork has never been recovered. (Image: Reuters)
6 / 6The Louvre, Paris (1911) | Theft of the Mona Lisa painting from the Louvre in 1911 made it famous. The painting was stolen by museum worker Vincenzo Peruggia, who hid inside the museum overnight and smuggled it out the next morning under his coat. He claimed he wanted to return the masterpiece to Italy. Two years later, the Mona Lisa was found in Florence, Italy, and Peruggia served a brief prison sentence of about seven months. The courts gave him leniency, stating his act was motivated by patriotism. (Image: Reuters)
