The Louvre Jewel Theft: Here's 5 Other Notorious Art Heists in History

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October 22, 2025 | 09:10 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Louvre Museum theft adds to the long list of art heists that have rocked the world. Jewelry stolen from the museum located in the city of Paris, France, is valued at more than US$100 million or around Rp1.6 trillion.

"It is important to remember that this damage is an economic damage, but it is nothing compared to the historical damage caused by this theft," said Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau in an interview on Tuesday, as cited by Al Jazeera. "The Louvre curator estimated the damages to be 88 million euros," Beccuau said, which equals about US$102 million.

The heist occurred on a brief 4-minute window last week. The stolen jewelry includes tiaras and earrings from the set of Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense from the early 19th century. The Empress Eugenie's crown was found outside the museum, apparently dropped by the thieves as they fled.

The Louvre heist is a reminder of the fragility of cultural institutions around the world and how historical objects can easily be lost at any time.

The Louvre Museum theft is not the only notorious art heist in history. Here are five others, as reported by Al Arabiya:

1. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston - 1990

The first case is a theft by two men disguised as police officers who broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. They tied up the museum guards and took 13 paintings, including masterpieces by renowned painters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Degas. The total value of their stolen loot is estimated to be around US$500 million. These paintings, three decades later, have still not been found.

2. The Mona Lisa Heist in Paris - 1911

Unlike the recent Louvre theft, the heist that took place in 1911 was carried out at night and was only discovered the next morning on August 21, 1911, when museum guards found the Mona Lisa missing from its display. After two years of investigation by French authorities, the police found the Italian thief named Vincenzo Peruggia. He committed this theft out of what he described as "national pride," as he believed Mona Lisa should belong to Italy.

3. The Scream by Edvard Munch in Oslo - 1994, 2004

This painting by Edvard Munch, an expressionist painter, was stolen twice. The first theft occurred in 1994 during the Winter Olympics in Norway. The second theft took place in 2004. In the second incident, armed robbers entered the Munch museum and took The Scream and The Madonna. Although both were returned, the two paintings suffered slight damage due to tears and humidity.

4. Poppy Flowers by Vincent van Gogh in Cairo - 2010

Similar to what happened at the Louvre, in 2010, a painting by Vincent van Gogh was stolen from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in broad daylight. The theft occurred due to lax security, as there were problems with the museum's half-functional alarm. To this day, the Poppy Flowers painting has not been found despite Interpol being involved.

5. The Green Vault Museum in Dresden - 2019

In a robbery akin to a Hollywood movie, the museum in Germany was breached, and treasures from the 18th century adorned with over 4,000 gems, worth US$1.08 billion, were stolen. Although some suspects were arrested and some of the jewels were recovered, the most valuable jewelry is still missing to this day.

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