The institution, which stores the country’s gold reserves in a huge vault 27 meters below ground, is just 500 meters from the Louvre, on the right bank of the River Seine
The Louvre has transferred some of its most precious jewels to the Bank of France, according to French radio station RTL, after an audacious daylight robbery last week exposed the famed museum’s security vulnerability.
The transfer of some precious items from the museum’s Apollo gallery, which houses the French crown jewels, was carried out on Friday under secret police escort, RTL said, citing unnamed sources.
The Bank of France, which stores the country’s gold reserves in a huge vault 27 meters below ground, is just 500 meters from the Louvre, on the right bank of the River Seine.
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The Louvre and the Bank of France did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Thieves stole eight precious pieces from the Louvre collection worth an estimated $102 million on Oct. 19, exposing security lapses by breaking into the world’s most visited museum by using a crane to break an upper-floor window during opening hours. They fled on motorcycles.
News of the robbery resonated around the world, prompting soul-searching in France over what some considered a national humiliation.
