For decades, audiences have been intrigued by the thrill, elaborate planning, luck, and glamour of art heists. Stories of stolen valuable works of art have often been the subject of movies, books, and podcasts, often spotlighting the complex schemes carried out to execute the mission. Below, we compiled some of the most interesting heists we've learned about.
Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
On October 19, 2025, several people dressed as construction workers climbed a construction lift and broke into the Louvre, stealing roughly $100M of crown jewels. This podcast breaks down the specifics of the heist.
One man carried out the crime relatively easily thanks to minimal security at the time. A former Louvre employee, he hid in a storage closet and swiped the painting the following morning. The disappearance caused a national stir, and people paid to come see the empty spot on the wall. The masterpiece was eventually returned in 1914.
The world's most famous painting is missing something. And it took centuries for experts to figure out what.
In this episode, August Moon investigates what happened to the Mona Lisa's eyebrows—analyzing infrared scans, tracking 500 years of restoration, and examining a forgotten copy from Leonardo's studio. But he uncovers something bigger: what we lost after the 1911 theft that has nothing to do with the painting leaving the Louvre.
Robbers stole the gems from a Brinks truck in Lebec, California, in July 2022. The truck was transporting the jewels to different jewelry shows in the state, and thieves stole diamonds, emeralds, gold, rubies, and designer watches while one driver was asleep and the other was getting food. Some of the stolen jewelry has been recovered.
Francisco de Goya's portrait "The Duke of Wellington" was believed to be seized by a criminal mastermind. In reality, a 60-something cabby named Kempton Bunton confessed to the crime about four years later. In 2021, it was revealed that he was actually covering for the actions of his son. The heist has since been immortalized in the film "The Duke."
An art heist in the crypto world plunges listeners of the "Search Engine" podcast into another mystery about why so many celebrities suddenly started selling the public on NFTs in 2021.
The robbery of the world's most visited museum took less than ten minutes and resulted in worldwide shock. The thieves used a ladder to break into the building and steal eight pieces of French crown jewels, and then escaped on motorbikes.
High-dollar chocolate and cheese robberies to art thefts and audacious train robberies. Explore history's most peculiar stories of stealing with this list of seventeen tales of burglaries.
The robbery took place in broad daylight. Without any armed security guards present, the thief quickly stuffed a duffel bag with 72 precious items. They remain at large. The heist drew particular attention for its location—the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel in Cannes, which was prominently featured as a setting in Hitchcock's 1955 film "To Catch a Thief" about a reformed cat burglar.
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