The daring heist of the French crown jewelry has raised so many concerns regarding the museum security.
In the late October 2025, a group of at least three masked professional thieves smashed into the first-floor gallery of the Louvre in Paris, stealing a series of priceless jewels, including pieces once belonging to Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie.
There were nine pieces reportedly stolen in the heist, including a necklace, a brooch, and tiara that is thought have belonged to Eugénie.
While the authorities are still working to uncover how it occurred, and working to chase down leads, it is clear that Sundayâs robbery is one of the most brazen art heists in recent memory.
Here are details of some of the other high-profile museum robberies that have left people stunned.
Amsterdam (March 2020):
Earlier in the COVID shutdown, Van Gogh's "Spring Garden" painting was stolen overnight from the Singer Laren Museum, where it had been on loan.
Dresden (November 2019):
Thieves stole pieces that contained more than 4,300 diamonds with an estimated value of over 113 million euros ($124 million), by breaking through a grilled window at the Gruenes Gewoelbe (Green Vault) museum in the city in the eastern German state of Saxony. Most of the jewels were recovered.
Madrid (May 2015):
Five paintings by Francis Bacon worth $25 million were stolen from a Madrid house. Three were recovered two years later.
Paris (May 2010):
Five paintings worth 120 million euros ($117.98 million) were stolen from the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. The stolen works included Picasso's "Dove with Green Peas" and Henri Matisse's "Pastorale".
Zurich (February 2008):
Four oil paintings by Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, van Gogh and Claude Monet worth $164 million were stolen from the Buehrle Collection in Zurich. The Monet and Van Gogh were found soon after, and the Cezanne in 2012 in Serbia.
Sao Paulo (December 2004):
In Brazil thieves stole Picasso's 1904 work "Portrait of Suzanne Bloch", worth up to $50 million, and local painter Candido Portinari's 1939 "The Coffee Worker", valued at about $5.5 million, from Sao Paulo's leading art museum. Both paintings were recovered the next month.
Oslo (August 2004):
Armed robbers stole Edvard Munch's "The Scream" from the Munch Museum in Oslo, the second time in 10 years that a version of the painting was stolen. Thieves also took Munch's "Madonna". The paintings, from 1893, were recovered in August 2006.
Drumlanrig Castle, Scotland (August 2003):
Thieves stole the "Madonna of the Yarnwinder" by Leonardo da Vinci. The work, painted in the early 16th century, was valued at about $53 million. It was recovered in Scotland four years later.
Amsterdam (December 2002):
Two Van Gogh oil paintings worth an estimated $56 million each were snatched by thieves in a daring robbery at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Both paintings were found in Naples in 2016 at the country house of an alleged mafia drug smuggler.
