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It sounds like a Hollywood movie — but it really happened. In a daring daytime heist, thieves stole millions of dollars’ worth of royal jewels from the Louvre Museum in Paris, escaping within minutes on scooters. The crime has shocked France, raising serious questions about security at the world’s most famous museums. In this lesson, you’ll read about how the theft unfolded, learn key vocabulary to describe crime and investigation, and discuss how such an event could happen in a place meant to protect the nation’s most treasured artifacts.

‘It’s a joke’: Anger grows as Louvre’s security gaps are revealed in wake of burglary

Warm-up question: Have you ever heard of a real-life event that sounded like something straight out of a movie? What made it so unbelievable?

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

French police are still looking for the culprits two days after thieves stole millions of dollars’ worth of jewels in a brazen daytime heist at the world’s most-visited art museum.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Meanwhile, shock is turning to anger as the French discover the huge gaps in security at their beloved Louvre Museum.

MARTIN: We go now to NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley to hear more. Eleanor, good morning.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.

MARTIN: Would you just remind us of what happened? I mean, this – jeez, it sounds like a movie.

BEARDSLEY: Yeah, it does. Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. in broad daylight, a moving truck with a ladder on the back pulled up to a sidewalk next to a wing of the museum. Two men climbed up to the second-floor balcony and pried open the window to enter the gallery. Now, they were not wearing masks and catsuits. They had on yellow reflective vests. They were disguised to look like ordinary maintenance workers. And once inside, a Louvre worker actually filmed the back of one of the men, and he was cutting open one of the glass cases with a round electric saw. The men stole the royal jewels – crowns, tiaras, necklaces – mostly from the 19th-century era of Emperor Napoleon III. They came out the same window and sped away on scooters driven by their accomplices, who were waiting for them.

MARTIN: Do the police, do the authorities have any idea who this might be?

BEARDSLEY: No, no idea who did it. Last night, the prosecutor put out a statement and said nothing is being ruled out. They do think it was a well-organized gang. There could be foreign interference. Possibly someone very rich could have ordered the heist. Likely not because these jewels cannot be displayed or resold in their original form. They’re too recognizable. But time is of the essence here because the thieves will likely dismantle them, melt down the gold and sell everything separately, and a part of French history and culture will be lost forever.

MARTIN: So what do we know about how this happened, I mean, about the security at the museum?

BEARDSLEY: Well, we’re finding out just how lacking the security is at the world’s most-visited art museum. According to a French government internal report out last year, the museum was way behind on things like video surveillance. For example, more than half the rooms in some of the most-visited wings have no video surveillance at all. Also, there was a question about the alarm of the wing broken into. It went off, but not when they broke in. It was as they were leaving. And by the way, the job took less than eight minutes. And there’s growing anger in France because people feel violated. These jewels belong to all the French people. And here is Pierre-Jean Chalencon. He’s a top Napoleonic-era collector himself, who knew these jewels well.

PIERRE-JEAN CHALENCON: No security. No policeman. No camera. It’s a joke. It’s really a joke. And I think the director and the people in charge of the Louvre Museum should get out of the job.

MARTIN: So I take it the museum is closed. Any idea when it will reopen?

BEARDSLEY: It is closed. I was out there yesterday, and there were still hundreds of people trying to look around and see – looking at that window and everything, which is boarded up. It’s likely to open tomorrow, and that’s also when the head of the Louvre will be grilled by a Senate commission on culture presided by centrist Senator Laurent Lafon. And here he is speaking on the radio this morning.

BEARDSLEY: He said “we need explanations on what happened. Did the alarm go off? Were there video cameras? How long did it take Louvre personnel to react?” You know, there’s a lot of scrutiny about Louvre security guards and personnel, though their first job is to protect the public and get them out of harm’s way, which they did. The employees actually went on strike last year over poor working conditions. And this year, in January, Macron announced a huge upgrade of the Louvre to make it, modern, in line with security and international tourism and to give the “Mona Lisa” its own room, but they won’t begin that work until 2031. How do we protect these precious artworks until then?

MARTIN: That is NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley. Eleanor, thank you.

BEARDSLEY: Thank you, Michel.

Vocabulary and Phrases:

1. Culprits: People who are responsible for a crime or wrongdoing.
2. Brazen: Bold and without shame; done openly and confidently.
3. Ruled out: Eliminated as a possibility or explanation.
4. Heist: A planned robbery, especially one involving valuable items.
5. Time is of the essence: Used to say that something must be done quickly because there is little time to waste.
6. I take it: A polite or indirect way to confirm or assume something is true.
7. To be grilled: To be questioned intensely or repeatedly, often in a formal setting such as an interview or hearing.
   

Fill in the Blank Use the correct word or phrase from the vocabulary list to complete each sentence.

1. After the robbery, detectives worked around the clock to find the __________ responsible.
2. The senator is expected __________ by reporters about the funding scandal later today.
3. The theft was so __________ that people could hardly believe it happened in broad daylight.
4. Since the missing jewels might be melted down soon, the police say __________ in recovering them.
5. The insurance company has not yet __________ the possibility of inside help.
6. The art museum announced a reward for anyone with information about the jewel __________.
7. “__________, the museum will reopen once the investigation is complete?” the journalist asked.

Comprehension Questions:

1. Where did the jewel heist take place, and what was stolen?
2. How did the thieves disguise themselves to avoid suspicion?
3. What reasons make the stolen jewels difficult to sell?
4. Why are people in France angry about the museum’s security system?
5. What does it mean that the head of the Louvre will “be grilled” by the Senate commission?

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think the thieves planned the heist carefully, or did they just get lucky? Explain your reasoning.
2. Why do you think cultural treasures, like those stolen from the Louvre, hold such emotional value for the public?
3. What can museums do to balance accessibility for visitors with the need for tight security?
4. Have you ever been to a famous museum or historical site? How secure did it seem?
5. Why do you think people are fascinated by stories of daring robberies and heists?