€600,000 Gold Stolen in Paris Natural History Museum Heist

Thieves exploit security vulnerabilities to steal rare native gold specimens, raising alarms over museum protection and cultural heritage in France.

Thieves have carried out a daring burglary at Paris’s National Natural History Museum, escaping with rare gold specimens valued at around €600,000 ($700,000).

The museum, best known for its vast collections of dinosaur skeletons and taxidermy animals, also houses a renowned geology and mineralogy gallery where the stolen treasures were kept.

According to officials, the break-in was discovered on Tuesday, September 17, 2025 morning. The intruders allegedly used an angle grinder and blowtorch to breach the riverside complex in the city’s 5th district — a site frequently visited by Parisians and international tourists alike.

“The theft concerns several specimens of native gold from the national collections,” the museum’s press office confirmed to AFP. “While the stolen items are worth approximately €600,000 at raw gold prices, their true heritage value is immeasurable.”

Native gold refers to naturally occurring alloys of gold and silver in their raw, unrefined form.

Alarms Disabled Before Heist: A police source told Le Parisien newspaper that the museum’s alarm and surveillance systems had been compromised by a cyberattack in July, potentially leaving the institution vulnerable. Authorities suspect the burglars may have exploited this weakness deliberately.

“This incident comes at a critical time for cultural institutions,” the museum noted in its statement. “Several public collections across France have been targeted by thieves in recent months.”

Pattern of Museum Robberies: The Paris heist is the latest in a troubling string of thefts from French museums:

Earlier this month – The Adrien Dubouché National Museum in Limoges was broken into, with thieves stealing two dishes and a vase of Chinese porcelain classified as national treasures, valued at €6.5 million.

Last November – Four masked men armed with axes and bats raided the Cognacq-Jay Museum in Paris in broad daylight, seizing several 18th-century artworks.

The following day – Jewellery worth several million euros was stolen during an armed robbery at a museum in Saône-et-Loire, central France.

Authorities have yet to confirm whether these thefts are linked, but cultural experts warn that France’s museums may be facing a wave of well-organized criminal operations targeting priceless artifacts.

Stay Updated with the Latest News – Follow Daily Observer on X (formerly Twitter) @DailyObserverNG