Louvre Looted for First Time in Nearly 30 Years

On October 19, The Louvre, one of, if not the most famous museums of art in the world, was robbed for the first time since 1998. Though the thieves, who have still not been revealed to the public, stole some of the world’s most important pieces of jewelry, what many people are more focused on is the surprising simplicity of such a heist.

The heist began only thirty minutes after the Louvre opened on the 19th. At 9:30 A.M., The thieves, dressed in outfits similar to renovation workers, parked a truck with a basket lift right outside the museum. The thieves ascended and made their way into the museum via a window. Within minutes, the thieves made it to the south side of the Apollo gallery and began to break into glass cases storing jewels using glass cutters, one of the few things left at the scene. Though they tripped alarms and security had begun to lock down the museum and called the police, the intruders were able to retrieve the jewels, exit through the window they entered in, get down to ground level, and be picked up by two accomplices on scooters without being captured

Allison Cesare, art teacher, said “I've been to the Louvre and it's sad to think that any art is stolen, but it shows how valuable it is to society and history as a whole. When it's taken away, everyone loses the opportunity to appreciate it.”