Woman arrested over theft of gold worth $1.7 million from Paris Natural History Museum

cbs ^ | October 22, 2025 | staff

[xxqqzz]

A Chinese woman has been arrested and charged over the theft of gold from the Natural History Museum in Paris, in one of several recent high-profile break-ins targeting French cultural institutions, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

The theft — by what the museum's director at the time said was an "extremely professional team" — took place on Sept. 16, a little over a month before an audacious jewelry heist at the world-famous Louvre museum on Sunday.

A 24-year-old Chinese woman was arrested in Barcelona on Sept. 30 over the Natural History Museum break-in and theft of gold worth more than $1 million, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said.

The suspect was handed over to French authorities on Oct. 13 and was charged with theft and criminal conspiracy and put in provisional detention the same day.

Investigations showed she had left France the day of the break-in and was preparing to return to China.

At the time of her arrest, she was trying to dispose of nearly one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of melted gold pieces, the prosecutor said, without providing more details.

The Natural History Museum curator discovered the theft of exhibited gold nuggets after a cleaner reported debris on site.

The stolen items included nuggets from Bolivia donated in the 18th century, from Russia's Ural region gifted by Tsar Nicholas I in 1833, and from California dating to the gold rush era.

A five-kilogram nugget from Australia discovered in 1990 was also taken, Beccuau said.

Nearly six kilograms of native gold was stolen, with damages estimated at 1.5 million euros ($1.7 million), she added, noting that the historical and scientific value of the pieces was "priceless."

Native gold is a metal alloy containing gold and silver in their natural, unrefined form.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: ccp; china; france; godsgravesglyphs; gold; hitandrun; naturalhistorymuseum; paris; thief

[xxqqzz]

Another theft, about a month ago. Chinese woman stole $1.7 million of gold nuggets. That is the value of the gold. They were worth more as nuggets. Had melted them down.

[MarlonRando]

A chinese in Paris. How romantic

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Yet another greedy China Doll.

[sushiman]

With all the security available today , how the hell does one rob a museum ???

[mass55th]

Thanks for posting this. Hadn’t heard about it.

[shaggy eel]

,,, she probably pulled off the gold rip off between industrial espionage jobs.

[jimtorr]

France and other European countries need to do a much better job gaurding their own museums.

[lee martell]

Paris museums have been slacking off, getting lazy.
A professional theft in that kind of environment could be done so smoothly, the average museum visitor or museum staff may not notice anything obviously amiss, at first glance.

No broken windows. No smashed bits of display glass seen on those soft Persian, wall to wall carpets. No gaping hole sawed in the ceiling for access.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

A Chinese woman has been arrested and charged over the theft of gold from the Natural History Museum in Paris, in one of several recent high-profile break-ins targeting French cultural institutions

[kiryandil]

A 5-kilogram gold nugget would be worth approximately $665,630 to $667,360 based on recent spot prices (around $133,136 to $133,472 per kilogram), but the final price would depend on its purity, market fluctuations, and any collector’s premium. The “nugget” factor means it’s likely more valuable than a standard bar of the same weight because of its rarity and natural condition.

[SunkenCiv]

• Louvre's First DEI Female Museum Director Hired First Female DEI Security Chief [10/23/2025]
• Stolen Louvre jewels are worth estimated $102 million, not including their historical value, prosecutor says [10/23/2025]
• Vandalism in the nave: more corruption at Canterbury Cathedral [10/24/2025]

[Secret Agent Man]

Simple, just go to France.

[cquiggy]

Early reports from credible sources say her name is Fang Fang !

[sushiman]

What have they got , a padlock on the front door ???

[FreeperCell]

First the Germans, now this.

[frank ballenger]

She decided to go for the gold but at the Louvre the thieves knew diamonds are a girl’s best friend and got away.

[Mark17]

DEI security officials.

[21twelve]

Yeah - sucks that she melted down the nugget. I imagine it gave many visitors the “wow - I could find something like that someday!” thought.

When they first said melted I thought they meant works of art. Others can debate which is more terrible - to destroy a natural wonder, or one created by man.

[Does so]

FEMALE DEI security agent...

[Farmerbob]

Same way they get in with buckets of paint to throw on exhibits in the name of climate change. I don’t know why visitors or security doesn’t beat these protesters into quadriplegics right there in the museum.