PARIS’ Natural History Museum has reported a break-in during which thieves stole gold samples valued at €600,000 ($700,000).
In a statement issued late Tuesday, September 16, the museum’s press office disclosed that the break-in had been uncovered earlier that morning, with the intruders reportedly using an angle grinder and blow torch to break into the riverside complex, a favourite destination for both Parisians and tourists.
“The theft concerns several specimens of native gold from the national collections held by the museum. While the stolen specimens are valued at around 600,000 euros based on the price of raw gold, they nevertheless carry an immeasurable heritage value,” the museum said.
A police source revealed that the museum’s alarm and surveillance systems had been crippled by a cyberattack in July, a weakness the thieves appeared to have exploited.
“This incident comes at a critical time for cultural institutions and museums in particular. Several public collections have indeed been targeted by thefts in recent months,” the museum added.
Renowned for its dinosaur skeletons and taxidermy displays, the National Natural History Museum in Paris’ upscale 5th District also features a geology and mineralogy gallery.
While no further details were provided on the other robberies, the case of Adrien Dubouché National Museum in Limoges, central France, which was broken into earlier this month is still fresh.
The thieves made away with two dishes and a vase of Chinese porcelain designated as national treasures, with the losses valued at €6.5 million.
The ICIR reports that in November 2024, armed robbers carried out a daring heist in Paray-le-Monial museum, seizing jewels worth millions from a piece by renowned Parisian goldsmith Joseph Chaumet, classified as a national treasure.
The local mayor, Jean-Marc Nesme, said the thieves pulled up on motorbikes at the Hiéron Museum in Paray-le-Monial, central France, around 4 p.m., with three storming inside while one kept watch outside.
In the same month, four men with axes and baseball bats smashed the display cases in broad daylight at the Cognacq-Jay museum in Paris, making off with several 18th-century works.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.