The Louvre robbery: A timeline of the brazen theft, investigation and first arrests

Author: Leath, Mason and Hutchinson, Bill.

The Louvre robbery: A timeline of the brazen theft, investigation and first arrests. October 26, 2025.

The Louvre robbery: A timeline of the brazen theft, investigation and first arrests

ABC News

Seven minutes is all it took to artfully plunder the world’s most famous museum – and eight days for police to announce the first arrests in the brazen theft.

On Sunday, Oct. 19, four masked thieves stole eight pieces of jewelry from the Louvre valued at $102 million, sparking a national outcry and nationwide manhunt. The daring heist took just seven minutes, leaving investigators searching for answers as to how one of the world's most secure museums was robbed in such a brief window of time.

Just eight days later, French police announced that two people had been arrested in connection to the theft, as a nationwide manhunt continues for the remaining two perpetrators.

Here is a minute-by-minute breakdown of how it all went down, based on what investigators know so far.

Police officers stand near the pyramid of the Louvre museum after reports of a robbery, in Paris, France, Oct. 19, 2025.

Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters

9:30 a.m.: Thieves arrive at the Louvre

A truck with an extendable ladder arrived at the Louvre’s Seine-facing side. The thieves raised the ladder in order to reach a second-floor balcony to enter the museum, according to police.

The Louvre had only been open for half an hour at the time of the theft, according to the museum's posted hours of operation.

French police officers investigate an alleged robbery at the Louvre Museum, on Quai Francois Mitterrand, in Paris on Oct. 19, 2025.

Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images

9:34 a.m.: The break-in and theft

Two of the thieves, dressed as construction workers, scaled the ladder and used an angle grinder to cut through a window in the Apollo Gallery, just a few rooms away from where the "Mona Lisa" is displayed.

The thieves then smashed two display cases using the angle grinder and removed eight pieces of jewelry belonging to Emperor Napoleon and his wife, according to police.

9:37 a.m.: Alarm is triggered

The museum alarm was triggered, alerting museum staff and authorities to the theft.

9:38 a.m.: Escape

Fewer than four minutes after they broke into the gallery, the thieves fled, descending the ladder and escaping on two motorbikes, according to investigators, heading southeast toward the A6 highway and the city of Lyon.

In their hasty escape, the robbers dropped one of the stolen pieces of jewelry – the crown of Empress Eugénie, which was adorned with over a thousand diamonds. The crown was recovered, but was damaged, French Culture Minister Rachida Dati told ABC News.

A crown of Empress Eugenie was found damaged outside the Louvre in Paris following a heist at the museum, Oct. 19, 2025.

Musée du Louvre / Stéphane Maréchalle

Police arrived minutes later and ultimately found two angle grinders, a blowtorch, gasoline, gloves, a walkie-talkie, a blanket, and the crown at the scene. Police also found a yellow vest that was apparently dropped by one of the fleeing perpetrators at the corner of Pont de Sully and Avenue Henri IV, several blocks from the Louvre.

10:34 a.m.: The theft is publicly announced

"A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the @MuseeLouvre," Dati posted on X. "No injuries to report. I am on site alongside the museum teams and the police. Investigations underway."

10:37 a.m.: The Louvre announced it's closed

The Louvre posted on X that it was closed for the day "for exceptional reasons." It remained closed for three days, reopening to the public the Wednesday after the theft.

The repaired window of a balcony door, believed to have been used by the thieves and damaged during the heist at the Louvre Museum, after French police arrested suspects in the Louvre heist case in Paris, France, Oct. 26, 2025.

Abdul Saboor/Reuters

Oct. 22: Investigators find DNA at crime scene

In what could be the first major break in the investigation, traces of DNA were recovered from a helmet and a glove the thieves left behind in their hasty getaway, French authorities told ABC News.

Oct. 23: Video of 2 suspects making getaway emerges

A dramatic video surfaced of two of the thieves wanted in the jewel heist exiting the Louvre's Apollo Gallery on a mobile cherry picker and fleeing the scene on motorbikes. Law enforcement sources tell ABC News that the video of the suspects – one wearing a motorcycle helmet and the other covering their face with a balaclava and wearing a yellow construction worker vest – was taken from inside the Louvre by members of the museum security staff.

A member of security stands outside the Louvre Museum after French police arrested suspects in the Louvre heist case, in Paris, France, Oct. 26, 2025. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor

Abdul Saboor/Reuters

Oct. 24: Fingerprints, 150 trace evidence samples analyzed

A source close to the French Minister of Interior told ABC News that 150 trace samples of evidence, including fingerprints, had been collected from the crime scene.

Oct. 26: 2 suspects arrested in jewel heist

The French National Police confirmed to ABC News that two men had been arrested in connection to the Louvre robbery. One suspect was arrested at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport while trying to board a plane bound for Algeria, police said, while the second suspect was nabbed by police as he was about to travel to Mali.

DMU Timestamp: December 17, 2025 07:17