After Louvre heist and string of thefts, Europe’s smaller museums are on guard

Visitors walk in the Apollo Gallery at the Louvre Museum in Paris on July 22, the day of its reopening after French crown jewels were stolen in 2025. | REUTERS

Oct 31, 2026

PARMA, Italy – Two men wearing head torches climbed through a forced-open window at the Fondazione Magnani Rocca museum near Parma on the night of March 22 and calmly lifted artworks by Cezanne, Renoir and Matisse from the walls.

Within three minutes, they had passed the works, valued at about €9 million ($10 million), to an accomplice and fled. At the museum’s main gate, a fourth man discharged a fire extinguisher when the alarm sounded, distracting the custodian.

“Whatever could go wrong, did,” said Stefano Roffi, director of the private foundation that runs the museum.

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