Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** Nearly a month after the historic heist, the stolen items remain missing. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, however, remains undeterred.
Nearly a month after the historic heist, there is still no trace of the stolen items. But French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez remains undeterred.
It has been almost a month since the historic theft at the Louvre in Paris on Sunday, October 19, where jewelry of “inestimable value” was stolen, as authorities reported. There is still no trace of these jewels—crowns set with 1,300 diamonds and tiaras of empresses laden with emeralds. But French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez is not giving up and remains confident: he is convinced the loot will be found. This, at least, “until we have proof that the jewels have been sold,” as he stated in an interview published Sunday by La Tribune Dimanche.
The heist was carried out in less than eight minutes, at the museum’s opening: the thieves used a service elevator to reach a balcony on the first floor, where they broke an unprotected window to enter the Apollo Gallery; they then fled on scooters with the loot. During the escape, the thieves lost the crown of Empress Eugénie, which was found—damaged—shortly after the theft.
Meanwhile, several arrests have been made. Minister Nuñez emphasized that authorities have apprehended three of the four members of the gang that carried out the theft. In recent days, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau also stated that the suspects’ profiles “do not correspond to those generally associated with the upper echelons of organized crime.” They are likely “small-time criminals.”
After the historic theft, criticism of the museum’s management was not lacking: for years, the Louvre’s management had prioritized spending on image operations at the expense of other needs, such as security, according to a statement from magistrates of the Court of Auditors at the beginning of November. The museum’s president and director, Laurence des Cars, subsequently stated that all necessary measures had been taken following the theft, with the implementation of a new master plan for securing the facility.