A lightning robbery of astonishing efficiency, perpetrated with disconcerting ease, in seven minutes and in broad daylight, in the largest museum in the world. It is, for obvious reasons, one of those stories that are difficult to detach from. But after the spectacularity, the questions remain, the day after, about the failures in the security of the most visited museum on the planet. How could it be that, even in the midst of construction, its treasures were so close at hand?
The authorities are now busy assessing the exact losses and promising that justice will be done, that they will be recovered and paid for. “We will recover the works and those responsible will be brought to justice,” says the president, Emmanuel Macron.
The Louvre had been open to the public for half an hour yesterday, Sunday, around 9:30 a.m., when a commando of four well-prepared criminals, with impressive poise, arrived at the Apollo Gallery. Located on the first floor, it houses, among other things, the crown jewels of France.
The ascent was carried out in the middle of the street, using a common escalator from a moving company, located on the side of the Seine. The thieves had time to force a window door and then destroy two high-security display cases to steal “eight objects of inestimable heritage value,” according to the latest press release from the Ministry of Culture published on Sunday. All, before returning the same way and escaping on a motorcycle. The alarms sounded and the five security guards who were in the area went to the robbed room, but it was too late.
The loot included the necklace from the sapphire trousseau of Queen Marie Amelia and Queen Hortense, composed of eight sapphires and 631 diamonds, and the tiara of Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, containing almost 2,000 diamonds. The only thing that escaped the thieves at the moment was that they dropped the crown of Empress Eugenia, made up of 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds. The trousseau was recovered, damaged.
The Minister of the Interior, Laurent Núñez, affirms that he trusts that the criminals will be arrested “very soon.” An investigation has been opened into this “organized gang robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime” and the anti-banditry brigade has been tasked with pursuing them. The Minister of the Interior, also former head of the Paris police, speaks of “experienced” thieves, who could be “foreigners.”
According to Laure Beccuau, Paris prosecutor, who appeared on Sunday in , the possibility that a foreign power was the “sponsor” of the robbery has not been ruled out. He has detailed that the culprits of the theft used small chainsaws to break the windows and access the desired items.
The Ministry of Culture issued a statement late yesterday to emphasize the absence of a failure in the protection system: “The alarms (…) were activated. At the time of the raid, which was particularly rapid and brutal, the five museum agents, present in the room and adjacent spaces, immediately intervened to apply the security protocol.” He also maintains that the pieces were of “low value”, despite the spectacular nature of the theft.
However, the investigation must determine the chain of responsibilities that allowed such a spectacular theft, on a scale almost unprecedented since by an Italian glazier. Leonardo da Vinci’s painting would be found in Italy two years later. The last recorded theft from the Louvre took place in 1998: a painting by Camille Corot, stolen in broad daylight and never found. The local press, such as it is precisely this precariousness of security that stands out at this time.
After the theft was discovered, the museum immediately closed to the public, while Laurence des Cars, its president, addressed the staff at 2:30 p.m., in the main auditorium. His speech “was poorly received by some employees,” says the newspaper, which even speaks of boos against the manager. The workers accused the museum administration of lack of anticipation.
Noting that the “security” plan, which aims to modernize the museum’s security system, has been postponed in the 2025-2029 execution contract, employees point to a recurring lack of resources that is causing serious security failures. In a press release published on Sunday, the CFDT-Cultura union demands “a complete and independent audit of the security and prevention systems (…), a reinforcement of human resources for surveillance and reception (…) and total transparency in the conclusions of the investigation.”
In the note, it is recalled that it has constantly denounced the internal arbitrations observed during the last three years, which do not take into account the main mission of our institution: the preservation of heritage, the building, the collections and the people. (…) The responsibility of the management is overwhelming, and it is time for the President of the Republic and the Minister of Culture to take into account the warnings of the staff.
Furthermore, according to information from The Worldthe works of the “Louvre nouvelle renaissance”, intended to improve the reception area and create a new entrance in the Perrault colonnade, will only affect the Denon wing, which houses the Mona Lisa, as well as the Apollo Gallery, the scene of the robbery, the most sensitive for the agents because it is the busiest, in 2034-35. These same agents have long lamented the general staff shortage and problematic working conditions at the Apolo Gallery.
According to a Louvre employee, this gallery is now only guarded by five agents, instead of the traditional six. And there are only four during the first morning break, which lasts thirty minutes. Precisely the moment that criminals take advantage of to act. “We know perfectly well that there is great vulnerability in French museums,” agreed the Minister of the Interior, who recalled that a “security plan” recently launched by the Ministry of Culture “did not spare” the Louvre Museum.
Laurence des Cars, following his complex appearance yesterday, sent an email to staff to clarify that, since taking office, he has been warned about the need to strengthen our security architecture. In this sense, and at your request, the police headquarters has carried out detailed studies. Its conclusions were recently delivered to it and will be added to the measures already initiated.
“Our story”
The president of France has tried to calm the waters by promising that everything possible will be done to recover what was stolen, pieces so important that they will hardly be able to be sold in their entirety on the black market, except to someone tremendously obsessed with them who has commissioned their theft for his personal contemplation. There is also the option for the pieces to be scrapped and sold stone by stone.
Macron has described the theft of these jewels from the imperial period of Napoleon and his wife, Josephine, as “an attack on a heritage that we appreciate because it is our history” and has alluded to a new security program that will “guarantee the preservation” of the assets housed in the center. “The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we appreciate because it is our history,” he stated in a publication on the social network
He also highlighted that “the Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance project, which we launched in January, includes reinforced security.” “It will guarantee the preservation and protection of what constitutes our memory and our culture,” he highlighted.
