stealing $157 million worth of French crown jewels in a daring daylight heist.
The video, shared on social media, shows the robbers’ slow getaway as a mechanical ladder attached to a truck lowers them from the first floor of the world-famous museum.
At least two burglars – one wearing a hi-vis vest and another a helmet – can be seen in the bucket lift, frantically looking around as pedestrians and cars passed by.
Moments later, they jumped onto scooters parked nearby and fled the scene with eight high-value pieces of jewellery.
The footage, filmed from a nearby building overlooking the Quai François Mitterrand beside the Seine River, captured the chaotic escape.
“The individuals are on scooters and they are about to leave,” a man’s voice can be heard saying over what sounds like a walkie-talkie.
Police sirens blare seconds later.
“F**k, they’re gone?” the man filming says.
The video has since gone viral, with social media users both mocking and marvelling at the thieves’ escape.
“Unbelievable,” one X user wrote.
“That was so easy,” another added.
“It looks like slow motion,” a third joked.
“Bro they really pulled off a $96 million Louvre robbery with a construction lift like it was a side quest in GTA (Grand Theft Auto),” a fourth quipped.
French investigators confirmed they are aware of the video, saying it will form part of the ongoing probe. The prosecutor’s office has so far declined to comment further.
It has been five days since four thieves broke into the museum and stole the jewels within seven minutes, even as thousands of tourists roamed the galleries.
The gang entered through a first-floor window of the Apollo Gallery and smashed through glass cabinets, taking nine prized artefacts – including a tiara and brooch belonging to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III; an emerald necklace and earrings from Empress Marie Louise; a tiara, necklace, and single earring once owned by Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense; and another piece known as the “reliquary brooch.”
Empress Eugenie’s crown – encrusted with more than 1,300 diamonds and valued in the tens of millions – was later found damaged near the thieves’ escape route.
Forensic investigators on Thursday confirmed traces of DNA were discovered on a helmet and glove left behind. Authorities are now cross-referencing the samples with police databases.
Louvre president and director Laurence des Cars admitted there had been a “weakness” in the museum’s security protocols.
The thieves had broken through a blind-spot window not covered by CCTV. The only camera in that section of the Apollo Gallery faced west, away from the entry point.
“The weakness of the Louvre is its perimeter security, which has been a problem for a long time … certainly due to underinvestment,” Ms des Cars told a parliamentary culture committee.
She said she was “appalled” by the state of security when she took over as president and director in 2021.
This week, Ms des Cars offered her resignation to France’s culture minister, but it was not accepted.
It is not the first time the Apollo Gallery has been targeted. In 1976, thieves broke in and stole a jewelled sword belonging to King Charles X – an artefact that has never been recovered.
Investigators now have access to footage from roughly 4,500 cameras across Paris as they work to identify the culprits.
Authorities believe the heist was carried out by organised criminals, though they have not ruled out the possibility of an inside job.
The Louvre reopened to the public on Wednesday.
Images: Instagram
