The Louvre’s director has said a “terrible failure” in security at the iconic Paris museum resulted in last weekend’s daylight crown jewel heist, adding that she offered her resignation to France’s culture minister, but it was refused.
Attempting to explain to the French Senate on Wednesday how thieves made off with an estimated 88 million euros ($102m) in jewels, Laurence des Cars acknowledged that staff “did not detect the arrival of the thieves soon enough”.
“Today we are experiencing a terrible failure at the Louvre, which I take my share of responsibility in,” she told the senators, adding that she submitted her resignation to Culture Minister Rachida Dati. She added that Dati, however, turned down the resignation offer.
Des Cars said Sunday’s heist exposed the museum’s shortage of security cameras outside the monument, as well as other “weaknesses”.
She said while the Louvre’s alarms were working properly during the heist, some of the museum’s cameras are “ageing”, while the one nearest the thieves’ entry point was “directed westward and therefore did not cover the balcony involved in the break-in”.
Des Cars said she would push for a police station to be placed inside the museum, while she also suggested that barriers be erected to prevent vehicles from parking directly alongside the buildings.
The Louvre – which welcomes 30,000 visitors a day – reopened on Wednesday, with tourists queueing up to enter the world’s largest and most-visited museum for the first time since the audacious daytime heist which stunned the world.
Four men used a truck with an extendable ladder to access a balcony window, entering the Galerie d’Apollon (Apollo’s Gallery) through a window shortly after the museum opened at 9.30am on Sunday.
The thieves erected bollards on the street to make it look as though they were carrying out maintenance work, des Cars explained.
In total, the thieves spent less than four minutes inside the Louvre before making off with eight pieces dating back to the Napoleonic era. They made their getaway on motorbikes through central Paris. Three days on, the jewels remain missing and the thieves at large.
Among the haul was an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon Bonaparte gave his second wife, Empress Marie-Louise. Also stolen was a diadem that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds.
The thieves also dropped Eugenie’s emerald-set imperial crown – encrusted with more than 1,300 diamonds – as they fled. It was later found outside the museum, damaged but recoverable.
French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the heist as an “attack on a heritage that we cherish”.
None of the stolen items was privately insured, and the Louvre will not be compensated if they are not found. Insuring such priceless works would cost billions annually.
Staff at the Louvre have repeatedly highlighted concerns around understaffing and overcrowding, with very few eyes on too many rooms, resulting in a staff walkout in protest in June.
In January, Macron announced a substantial renovation plan for the Louvre, which will include security upgrades, after des Cars complained of its derelict state.
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