Europe’s museums are facing a new wave of fast and increasingly violent robberies in which criminals armed with sledgehammers, angle grinders and other tools are targeting valuable jewellery, gold and cultural artefacts, according to an analysis by El Mundo América.


The traditional image of the sophisticated art thief has given way to loosely organised groups that can enter a museum, smash display cases, seize valuables and escape within minutes. Recent cases have been reported in France, Spain, Italy, Austria and the United Kingdom.


The trend gained international attention after a group of hooded thieves broke into the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery in Paris on October 19, using an electric lift and disc cutter to break through a window. They stole jewellery from the collection of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie de Montijo valued at about €88 million.


Less than a year later, thieves broke into the house-museum of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir on the French Riviera and stole four paintings worth €8 million, using electric saws.


Marc Balcells, director of criminology at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, said the perpetrators differ sharply from the fictional art thief popularised by Hollywood.


"That type of robbery that Hollywood has portrayed a lot, of a person of high economic status, a great art connoisseur who steals for the challenge, we have never encountered. We have to talk about criminals, but the big change we are seeing is that these thefts are becoming more violent, faster, and with the current protocols, no one manages to stop them," he said.


According to the Europol report Changing Tactics, Changing Targets: The Evolving Nature of Museum Heists, published on August 26, criminals are increasingly recruited through social networks for individual operations rather than belonging to rigidly structured trafficking networks.


Their primary motivation is profit, with jewellery and gold particularly attractive because they can be moved relatively easily and sold through illicit or semi-legitimate channels.


"A painting valued at 50 million euros may be impossible to sell openly, difficult to transport, and dangerous to keep. However, a more modest collection of jewels may lose cultural value when dismantled, but offer components that can be moved through illicit or semi-legitimate channels," said Nikos Passas, professor of criminology and criminal justice at Northeastern University.


The destruction of cultural objects can make recovery impossible. Ibrahim Bulut, an adviser at the International Committee for Museum Security, said criminals can profit by destroying the cultural identity of jewellery, archaeological gold and coins.


"This is one of the most concerning aspects of the current trend: recovery can become impossible because the object itself no longer exists in its original form," he said.


The Louvre robbery has prompted renewed debate over museum security across Europe. French authorities presented a heritage security plan in June containing 33 measures to be implemented in 2026 and 2027.


Christopher Marinello, founder of Art Recovery International, said the incident had exposed vulnerabilities across the sector.


"If you can get into the Louvre, you can get into any museum. There is no doubt that this theft sent a message to other criminals: Europe has a security problem in its museums," he said.


Experts, however, disagree over whether the Louvre robbery directly triggered subsequent attacks. Bulut described it as an "imitation effect", while stressing that underlying vulnerabilities already existed.


The challenge now is to improve security without turning museums into fortresses. Passas argues for "smart, adaptable, and proportionate security" that protects vulnerable sites while preserving public access to cultural heritage.


By Sabina Mammadli