Louvre exposed by chronic underestimated risk: minister
French Culture Minister Rachida Dati said “chronic, structural underestimation of the risk of trespass and theft” had left the Louvre subject to the kind of robbery the museum experienced this month for more than 20 years.
The security lapses contributed to a brazen daylight robbery on October 19, in which four hooded thieves stole eight valuable pieces worth 88 million euros ($A155 million) from the museum’s Apollo gallery, which houses the French Crown Jewels.
A preliminary report on the theft found the museum had inadequate security equipment, poor organization and outdated protocols, Dati told TF1 TV on Friday.
“The devices, alarms and security devices installed at the Louvre Museum on the day of the theft were working properly,” but this was not enough to prevent the robbery because security “was not a priority,” Dati said.
He said the museum will introduce additional security measures by the end of the year, including anti-intrusion devices and barriers to prevent vehicle crashes on nearby public roads.
Louvre director Laurence des Cars told senators last week that he offered to resign after the robbery, but Dati refused.
Des Cars spoke of his “disappointment and surprise” at the state of the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, when he moved there from the Musee d’Orsay, home of the French Impressionists.
Seven suspects have been arrested so far in connection with the robbery, but none of the stolen jewelery has been found so far.
Thieves who stole jewels from the Louvre in Paris received only a small fraction of the estimated value of the jewels because pieces would have to be cut off.
Former bank robber and jewel thief David Desclos told broadcaster RTL on Friday that the thieves would only get a small fraction of the jewel’s estimated value.
“Let’s say you can get 3.4 million (euro, $A6 million) of 88 million (euro, $A6 million), at most five million (euro, $A8.8 million),” Desclos said.
“At this level, everyone has their own fence network. In this environment, there are gem polishers within the fences to cut gems,” Desclos said.
“I knew gem polishers who were running jewelry stores and I was doing that on the side,” he added.
After retiring from crime, Desclos made a name for himself as a comedian in France. He predicted that the stolen jewels would disintegrate within a few days and could no longer be tracked.
But he added: “Sometimes these are orders from billionaires who are passionately interested in this type of jewelry.”
with dpa
