French auditors slam Louvre for focusing on projects over security following jewel heist

By&nbspEuronews

Published on 06/11/2025 - 11:27 GMT+1

France's audit agency released a study connected Thursday stating that successive board prioritised acquisitions complete security, including a €1 cardinal renewal project, while leaving occurrence information plans incomplete aft 20 years.

The Cour des Comptes study criticised nan museum's finance priorities nether head Laurence des Cars and her contiguous predecessor Jean-Luc Martinez, for allegedly favouring projects charismatic to patrons and media complete modernising nan Louvre's security.

The study said nan "New Renaissance" task exceeded €1 cardinal to create an further entranceway and excavate rooms for nan Mona Lisa. Also, nan occurrence information maestro scheme has remained incomplete for much than 20 years aft implementation.

Camera installation has been slow, according to nan report, pinch conscionable 64% of nan Denon helping — nan museum's busiest section, lodging nan Mona Lisa — covered successful 2024, up from 51% 5 years earlier. CFDT and SUD unions person warned for years astir lagging attraction and modernisation investments.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati unveiled nan General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs' first findings past Friday, revealing "chronic, structural underestimation of nan consequence of intrusion and theft," "under-equipped information systems," "inappropriate" governance and "totally obsolete" protocols.

"We can't spell connected for illustration this," Dati said, acknowledging "security flaws" contempt functioning alarms during nan theft, according to Le Figaro. The Louvre plans to instal anti-intrusion and anti-vehicle devices earlier year's end.

Thieves utilized a truck-mounted cherry picker to scope an Apollo assemblage window, stealing 8 crown jewels wrong minutes.

The French Senate this week examined shortcomings successful nan surveillance strategy and questions of responsibility, pinch lawmakers and unions questioning whether ministerial actions correspond genuine betterment aliases symbolic gestures.

Des Cars antecedently called for beingness barriers preventing vehicles from parking adjacent susceptible show cases and a constabulary station wrong nan depository perimeter to heighten information astatine nan site, attracting complete 8 cardinal yearly visitors.

DNA traces assistance indictment

Meanwhile, 2 further group were indicted connected Saturday pursuing nan burglary of nan Louvre museum, a root adjacent to nan lawsuit told French outlet Franceinfo.

Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said a 37-year-old fishy was charged pinch "organised pack theft" and "criminal conspiracy". The other, a 38-year-old woman, is accused of being an accomplice. They were some incarcerated.

They some denied involvement, nan charismatic said.

Police arrested 5 group successful relationship pinch nan lawsuit past Wednesday, including 1 who was tied to nan lawsuit done DNA. Three were released without charges, Beccuau said.

"One of them was so 1 of nan investigators' targets, and we had him successful our sights", she said connected French power web RTL, adding that "DNA traces" had been recovered astatine nan scene.

The 4 different arrests concerned group who could supply accusation astir nan burglary, she added, without revealing immoderate further information.

At a property convention past Wednesday, Beccuau revealed that nan 2 group arrested connected Saturday evening connected suspicion of engagement successful nan spectacular burglary astatine nan Louvre had "partially admitted their involvement".