Violent robberies are increasing in European museums – thieves sometimes threaten with weapons, attack employees, and break into buildings and exhibition showcases with hammers, axes, and even explosives. This is stated in a Europol report.
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The EU police agency indicated that museum robberies are usually considered non-violent organized property crime. However, recently member states have noticed a shift “towards violent and coercive methods.” This may indicate that new criminal networks targeting specific cultural artifacts are involved in the crimes.
The report states that, unlike typical cultural property traffickers who usually avoid violence and specialize in organized property crimes or cultural property thefts, these individuals often have a criminal past and are linked to other types of crimes.
Moreover, in some recent investigations, the arrested thieves were found to have coordinated their actions spontaneously. They were often recruited on-site using social networks and instant messaging platforms, and did not know each other before the crime.
This differs from the usual structure of criminal networks involved in cultural property smuggling – typically consisting of a core group gathered around a leader.
The report published on Monday found that some of the most common targets for thieves are precious metals and jewelry. Their value is increasing, and gold and silver are easy to melt down, while gemstones can be removed from the items.
“Similarly, ancient Chinese porcelain items are likely becoming targets for cultural property traffickers due to financial gain,” the report states. “Due to high demand, they are probably easy to sell on the art market.”
Europol noted that several recent robberies have shown that some thieves are not afraid to use explosives or resort to violence.
In January 2025, a criminal group broke into the Drents Museum in the Netherlands, using explosives, and stole several Dacian artifacts. Some of them were later recovered.
The report also states that in some cases criminals use firearms to intimidate security staff and visitors. During some museum thefts, employees were directly attacked – tied up or subjected to physical force.
“In all recorded cases, the use of force is closely linked to targeted operations, suggesting that specific objects are identified in advance and the crime is planned,” the report states.
They smashed showcases in the Apollo Gallery and stole jewelry believed to be worth 88 million euros.
Europol pointed out that in 2024, four masked suspects armed with baseball bats and axes stole seven gold and diamond-studded exhibits from the Cognacq-Jay Museum of Art in Paris.
Similar violence was recorded in October 2025 during a robbery at the Louvre Museum.
“To reach their targets, (the Louvre – editor’s note) thieves broke a window and threatened security staff and visitors,” the report says. “They smashed showcases in the Apollo Gallery and stole jewelry believed to be worth 88 million euros.”
Europol emphasizes that more evidence is needed to confirm this trend. However, it does not rule out the possibility that small-scale museum thieves are occasionally used by criminal networks under the so-called “crime as a service” model.
“Another possibility is that some criminal actors and networks, usually operating in other criminal markets, have realized that museum robberies can be a low-risk and high-profit source,” the Europol report states.
