Louvre remains closed a day after daring theft of Napoleonic jewels

PARIS (AP) — The Louvre remained closed Monday, a day after historic jewels were stolen from the world’s most-visited museum in a daring daylight heist that prompted authorities to reassess security measures at cultural sites across France.

The museum’s staff asked dozens of visitors who were queuing in front of the glass pyramid entrance to leave. In a message posted on social media, the Louvre said visitors who have booked tickets will be refunded. It did not provide additional details. The Louvre will also be closed on Tuesday, its weekly closing day.

On Sunday, thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre's facade, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels, officials said. The theft occurred about 30 minutes after the museum opened, with visitors already inside, and was among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory.

It unfolded just 250 meters (270 yards) from the Mona Lisa, in what Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as a professional operation that lasted just a few minutes.

French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin acknowledged security failures on Monday.

“One can wonder about the fact that, for example, the windows hadn’t been secured, about the fact that a basket lift was on a public road,” he said on France Inter radio. “Having (previously) been interior minister, I know that we cannot completely secure all places, but what is certain is that we have failed.”

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez ordered prefects across France to immediately reassess security measures protecting museums and other cultural sites and enhance them if needed.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati said investigators are working on evidence found at the scene.

“We did find motorcycles and they have a license plate,” Dati said on news broadcaster CNews. “I also want to pay tribute to the security officers who prevented the basket lift from being set on fire. One of the criminals tried to set it on fire, but they forced him to flee. This allowed us to recover evidence at the scene.”

Officials said the heist lasted less than eight minutes in total, including less than four minutes inside the Louvre. “They went straight to the display windows, they knew exactly what they wanted. They were very efficient.” Dati said.

Dati stressed that a decade-long “Louvre New Renaissance” plan that was launched earlier this year includes security improvements.

“When the Louvre Museum was designed, it was not meant to accommodate 10 million visitors,” she said.

The 700-million-euro ($760-million) plan is intended to modernize infrastructure, ease crowding and give the Mona Lisa a dedicated gallery by 2031.

Sunday's theft focused on the gilded Apollo Gallery, where the Crown Diamonds are displayed. Alarms brought Louvre agents to the room, forcing the intruders to bolt, but the robbery was already over.

A worker in the Louvre filmed a person in the Apollo Gallery on Sunday morning wearing a yellow jacket and standing by a glass encasing, according to video viewed and verified by BFM television. It is unclear whether the person is one of the suspects.

Eight objects were taken, according to officials: a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a matching set linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense; an emerald necklace and earrings from the matching set of Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife; a reliquary brooch; and Empress Eugénie’s diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch, a prized 19th-century imperial ensemble.

One object, the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum, French authorities said.

People queue to enter the Louvre museum that will remain closed for the day after Sunday's jewels robbery, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

Soldiers patrol as people queue to enter the Louvre museum that remains closed for the day after Sunday's jewels robbery, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

The window of Louvre museum where thieves arrive for the robbery, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 in Paris. The museum remains closed for the day after Sunday's jewels robbery, (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

A board reads that the opening of the Louvre museum is delayed, but it remains closed for the day after Sunday's jewels robbery, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

People queue outside the Louvre museum that remains closed for the day after Sunday's jewels robbery, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — For several weeks, international journalists and camera crews have been scurrying up to people in Greenland's capital to ask them for their thoughts on the twists and turns of a political crisis that has turned the Arctic island into a geopolitical hot spot.

President Donald Trump insists he wants to control Greenland but Greenlanders say it is not for sale. The island is a semiautonomous territory of Denmark and the prime minister of that country has warned that if the U.S. tries to take Greenland by force, it could potentially spell the end of NATO.

Greenlanders walking along the small central shopping street of the capital Nuuk have a hard time avoiding the signs that the island is near the top of the Western news agenda.

Scores of journalists have arrived from outlets including The Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, the BBC and Al Jazeera as well as from Scandinavian countries and Japan.

They film Nuuk's multicolored houses, the snowcapped hills and the freezing fjords where locals go out in small boats to hunt seals and fish. But they must try to cram their filming into about five hours of daylight — the island is in the far north and the sun rises after 11 a.m. and sets around 4 p.m.

Along the quiet shopping street, journalists stand every few meters (feet), approaching locals for their thoughts, doing live broadcasts or recording stand-ups.

Local politicians and community leaders say they are overwhelmed with interview requests.

Juno Berthelsen, MP for the Naleraq opposition party that campaigns for independence in the Greenlandic parliament, called the media attention “round two,” referring to an earlier burst of global interest following Trump's first statements in 2025 that he wanted to control Greenland.

Trump has argued repeatedly that the U.S. needs control of Greenland for its national security. He has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals.

Berthelsen said he has done multiple interviews a day for two weeks.

“I'm getting a bit used to it,” he said.

Greenland's population is around 57,000 people —- about 20,000 of whom live in Nuuk.

“We’re very few people and people tend to get tired when more and more journalists ask the same questions again and again,” Berthelsen said.

Nuuk is so small that the same business owners are approached repeatedly by different news organizations — sometimes doing up to 14 interviews a day.

Locals who spoke to the AP said they want the world to know that it's up to Greenlanders to decide their own future and suggested they are perplexed at Trump's desire to control the island.

“It’s just weird how obsessed he is with Greenland,” said Maya Martinsen, 21.

She said Trump is “basically lying about what he wants out of Greenland,” and is using the pretext of boosting American security as a way to try to take control of “the oils and minerals that we have that are untouched.”

The Americans, Martinsen said, “only see what they can get out of Greenland and not what it actually is.”

To Greenlanders, she said, “it's home.”

“It has beautiful nature and lovely people. It’s just home to me. I think the Americans just see some kind of business trade.”

Kwiyeon Ha contributed to this report.

A journalist films in Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Burrows)

An AP journalist films people sitting by the sea in Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Burrows)

A journalist conducts an interview in Nuuk, Greenland, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Burrows)