The Louvre’s director, whose resignation request was refused, has admitted a “terrible failure” days after the theft of crown jewels from the Paris museum on Sunday.
There was “highly insufficient” security camera coverage of the building’s outside walls, along with other “weaknesses,” said Laurence des Cars in a testimony to the French Senate on Wednesday.
Des Cars told the committee that she submitted her resignation, but Minister of Culture Rachida Dati declined to accept it.
“The whole world is shocked and we really don’t need this in France right now”, said right-wing French senator Jacques Grosperrin.
He added that France has become a laughingstock in the international media.
Another senator, Max Brisson, who is also part of Les Républicains party, said that France must not become “the champion of buck passing” on taking blame for the theft.
“Despite our efforts, despite our hard work on a daily basis, we failed,” Des Cars said, speaking publicly for the first time since the shocking burglary.
Four men used a truck with an extendable ladder to access a balcony window and steal the jewels, which are valued at more than $100 million, from the Apollo gallery at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, shortly after the museum opened. They completed the job in just seven minutes.
The glass that held the artifacts was designed to withstand bullets, but the men were able to cut through it with an angle grinder.
All alarms had functioned during the burglary, Des Cars said, but admitted some cameras are “aging” and that the only one near the robbers’ entry point “is directed westward and therefore did not cover the balcony involved in the break-in.”
However, Des Cars defended the museum’s $90 million security plan, saying security camera coverage was being increased.
A total of eight items were stolen, including a tiara and brooch belonging to Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, France’s Ministry of Culture said.
The thieves also took an emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings that belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, Empress Marie Louise. Plus a tiara, necklace, and an earring from the sapphire set that belonged to Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense.
Des Cars explained that the thieves put out bollards on the pavement to make it seem as if they were doing maintenance work.
The thieves tripped the alarm when they broke the window, and security protocol was followed, she said. But they managed to get away within minutes.
They did, however, drop a diamond and emerald-studded crown. “Initial assessments suggest a delicate restoration is possible,” Des Cars said.
She added that security guards outside the museum prevented the robbers from setting fire to their van, saving valuable evidence.
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