For the first time in 27 years, the Louvre has been the subject of a successful heist. On Sunday, October 19, four men broke into France’s most famous museum at 9:30 in the morning and managed to steal eight historical jewels, while nine were initially targeted. The thieves, dressed as construction workers, arrived with a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift, which hoisted them up onto a balcony leading to the Galerie d’Apollon (Gallery of Apollo). They broke in through a window which two of the men cut using mechanical tools. As soon as they entered, the four men threatened the guards, who evacuated the premises, and cut through the two cases containing the items. They then escaped on motorbikes. The culprits spent a total of four minutes inside the museum.
While much of the reasoning behind the heist remains unclear due to rapidly unfolding events, it has been confirmed which jewels were taken, as French authorities race against time to get them back.
The jewelry, having been described as “priceless” due to their immeasurable historical value have been revealed to be a sapphire tiara, diadem, necklace, and single earring belonging to several French queens, an emerald necklace belonging to Empress Marie-Louise as a wedding gift from Napoleon, the reliquary brooch, as well as the diamond bow brooch, and diadem belonging to Empress Eugenie. During their escape, Empress Eugenie’s crown, an ornate piece of gold, was dropped outside of the Louvre and recovered by authorities. According to the museum curator, the jewels are estimated to be worth up to $102 million (88 million euros).
On Wednesday, the Louvre director Laurence des Cars acknowledged that the heist happened due to a “terrible failure” involving the security of the museum. “Despite our best efforts, despite our hard-work on a daily basis, we failed,” said des Cars in her first public statement since the break-in. She also added that the surveillance of the museum’s outside walls was “highly insufficient.”
This shocking theft comes just a few months after employees of the Louvre went on strike due to chronic under-staffing and not enough resources for protection, with too few eyes on too many rooms. Rachel Kim, a freshman student at Eleanor Roosevelt with an interest in history stated that, “I was really surprised because I thought the security would be very high and have some kind of footage of or at least what the men’s silhouette would be like [from inside the museum] but was really disappointed and intrigued. I really hope the artifacts are found because they’ll probably be sold and not used for good reasons.”
Clearly, the audacious heist has caught the eyes of individuals across the world to all be pointed at France, but time will tell whether or not the investigators will be able to make up for the failures of the Louvre.
