Editor’s Note
This report details a brazen heist at the Louvre, described by authorities as the work of “prepared and determined” thieves. The incident underscores ongoing security challenges at major cultural institutions.
“PREPARED AND DETERMINED”
The robbers who operated at the Louvre were “prepared and determined,” estimated the Minister of the Interior on LCI.
THE HEIST
Thieves burglarized the Louvre at the museum’s opening on Sunday morning, October 19. They entered the museum with a service elevator before stealing 8 extremely valuable jewels that were displayed in 2 high-security display cases, announced the Ministry of Culture.
“WE WILL FIND THEM”
“We will find them,” assured the Minister of the Interior Laurent Nuñez to Darius Rochebin on LCI, regarding the four men who committed the jewel theft at the Louvre.
“NOT A POLICE OFFICER BEHIND EVERY CAMERA”
There is not “a police officer behind every camera,” reminded the Minister of the Interior, to explain why the response was not immediate. Laurent Nuñez refused to answer questions in detail about the cameras that may have filmed the scene, inside or outside the museum.
“There are cameras all around the Louvre,” explained the Minister of the Interior, while emphasizing that police officers were particularly attentive to the forecourt. “The camera network is very dense,” was all Laurent Nuñez replied to Darius Rochebin, refusing to specify if the heist scene had indeed been filmed, while the investigation is ongoing.
“A REAL RISK”
“It’s a real risk.” The Minister of the Interior confirmed on LCI that one could fear the stolen pieces might be dismantled to be sold off piece by piece.
UNARMED GUARDS
“The use of weapons must remain with the internal security forces.” Laurent Nuñez spoke out against armed guards, as the idea begins to gain traction in the debate generated by the Louvre heist.
A THEFT IN 3 OR 4 MINUTES
They spent only “3 or 4 minutes” inside the Louvre, out of the 7 minutes the entire heist lasted, specified Laurent Nuñez.
“2 OR 3 MINUTES”
“Police officers were on the scene 2 or 3 minutes after” the call to 17 made by a private citizen who witnessed the theft.
THE ALARM DID GO OFF
“We are trying to understand what malfunctioned,” explained the Minister of the Interior on LCI, according to whom the alarm did go off as soon as the window of the Galerie d’Apollon was broken. Laurent Nuñez reminds that the entire heist lasted only seven minutes.
VATICAN MUSEUMS DIRECTOR’S COMMENT
A theft like the one at the Louvre “can happen” anywhere, even at the Vatican Museums, estimated the director of that institution, Barbara Jatta, during a meeting with the foreign press in Rome.
“It is clear that with Arsène Lupin or in the films Ocean’s Eleven or Ocean’s Twelve, it can happen, but we hope that with our security system, it happens as little as possible,” she said.
THEFT AT THE LANGRES MUSEUM
Even if no link is established between the two cases, the theft at the Langres museum on the night following the Louvre heist will undoubtedly add to the emerging debate on the difficult security of French museums.
