Every action movie involving stealing artifacts, from National Treasure to Ocean’s Eleven, has shown crazy heists that seem completely unrealistic. Recently, a robbery from the Louvre Museum has proven that these overly simplified heists aren’t in fact impossible, and that stealing one of France’s most valuable artifacts isn’t too hard after all.
On October 19th and 9:30AM, the heist officially began. It’s hard to think that stealing artifacts worth 88 million euros could be achieved in broad daylight while the museum was open, yet these robbers were able to take the jewels and then vanished into thin air. According to BBC, to get into the Louvre, the robbers disguised themselves as construction workers and used a ladder to break into the windows (which wasn’t reinforced), then scared off the guards using their power tools. Using an angle grinder, the thieves cut the glass that protected the crown jewels in less than four minutes and then took the priceless jewels, tiaras, and necklaces that belonged to many of the French royalty in the 1700s. By 9:35AM, the word that something was happening in the Apollo room spread, and some alarm bells went off in the museum. Then the robbers made a swift escape using electric scooters and disappeared through Paris’ narrow streets.
“Especially as more details started coming up, it made everyone feel like the heist is like a Netflix movie. The people who stole from the Louvre were going to be like a 16 year old teen, and then it got revealed to be a bunch of old men. But I think it was really funny and it was a great Halloween costume,” remarks Genevieve Seymour, a Sophomore at Palisade. Seymour jokingly adds, “Mr. Wallace was gone on the day of the Louvre Heist, so therefore, he must have been in France.”
Stealing one of France’s most precious jewels triggered outrage in many Parisians, and soon enough the police were hot on the trail of the robbers, scouring every neighborhood and trailing every lead. According to ABC News, they narrowed the suspects down to four main people, which included an Algerian national, two men in their late 30’s who both have a criminal record, and the wife of one of the criminals. All deny involvement with the robbery, but police have found their DNA in the gallery where the jewels were stolen and the ladder that they climbed to use to break into the museum. They all face severe criminal charges, and if proved guilty, could go to jail for fifteen years.
No one could’ve guessed that it could have been so easy to steal some of France’s valued jewels from a world class museum, but based on recent events, this has thoroughly shocked the public and redefined what a museum heist looks like.
