France scrambles to protect museums after Louvre heist

France will review the protection of cultural sites across the country and beef up security if needed, officials said on Monday as a manhunt was under way for the four people who staged an audacious daylight robbery at the Louvre museum.

The thieves broke into the Louvre using a crane to smash an upstairs window, then stole priceless objects from an area that houses the French crown jewels before escaping on motorbikes.

The theft, which several newspapers called "heist of the century", grabbed headlines globally. The museum, which shut after the robbery on Sunday morning, remained closed on Monday.

EMERGENCY MEETING OVER SECURITY

The break-in raised awkward questions about security at the museum, which is home to art works such as the Mona Lisa and which welcomed 8.7 million visitors in 2024.

Justice Minister Gerard Darmanin said the theft had cast France in a "deplorable" light. Opposition politicians criticised the government for what they branded a national humiliation at a time when the country is already hit by a deep political crisis.

"What is certain is that we failed," Darmanin told France Inter radio. "Someone was capable of putting in a crane truck in the open in the streets of Paris, to have people walk up for a couple of minutes and take priceless jewels and give France a deplorable image."

The Culture and Interior Ministers held an emergency meeting on Monday and agreed to ask senior officials across France "to immediately assess the existing security measures already in place around cultural institutions, and to strengthen them if necessary", the Interior Ministry said.

"For too long we have looked into the security of visitors but not the security of art works," Culture Minister Rachida Dati told M6TV, adding that she was hoping to put in place shortcuts to public procurement rules to speed up security enhancements in museums.

MANHUNT UNDER WAY

The robbery took between six and seven minutes and was carried out by four people who were unarmed but who threatened the guards with angle grinders, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Sunday.

The probe has been entrusted to a specialist police unit that has a high success rate in cracking high-profile robberies, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Sunday.

There was no update on Monday on the investigation.

NATIONAL HUMILIATION?

Darmanin said the robbers, who are still on the run, would eventually be found. But that did not quell the dismay over the theft.

This heist "is an unbearable humiliation for our country. How far will the disintegration of the state go?" Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally party, said on X.

Francois-Xavier Bellamy, of the conservative Republicans party, called it "a symptom of a country that cannot protect its heritage".

The stolen jewellery included a tiara from the jewellery set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, from the early 19th century, as well as an earring, part of a pair from the sapphire jewellery set of the same queens.

The crown of Empress Eugenie was found outside the museum. The thieves apparently dropped the piece, made of gold, emeralds and diamonds, as they made their getaway.

LOUVRE CLOSED TO VISITORS

Meanwhile the museum, which had been expected to reopen on Monday, remained closed.

Christopher Marinello, founder of Art Recovery International, an organisation specialising in the recovery of stolen art, said most museums complained they did not have enough funding for security. "The Louvre is one of the most well funded museums in the world. And if they're going to be hit, every museum is vulnerable," he told Reuters.