Editor’s Note
This article discusses previously reported security concerns at the Louvre Museum, following a high-profile fictional theft scenario set in 2025. The referenced audit by Van Cleef & Arpels from 2019 is a matter of public record.
Workers install grilles on the windows of the Apollo Gallery at the Louvre, on the facade facing the Quai François-Mitterrand in Paris, on December 23, 2025.
DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP
It is said that the Louvre Museum will drink the cup of its security shortcomings to the dregs, following the spectacular theft of the Crown Jewels on October 19, 2025. Several audits conducted, notably one by Van Cleef & Arpels in 2019, revealed by Le Monde, had highlighted the gaping flaws threatening the integrity of its premises and artworks. According to our information, the Paris Police Prefecture had also warned of the risks to which the Louvre was exposed. But, this time, the report, commissioned by the museum, was delivered to the Louvre’s management on August 29, 2025, a month and a half before the burglars’ intrusion.
Produced by the operational situational prevention service of the Paris Police Prefecture and classified as “confidential,” this document describes “all resources dedicated to security as outdated and unsuitable for the location.”
The number of screens is insufficient given the camera fleet managed by software that is incompatible depending on whether they are digital or analog. Although better equipped, the report states,