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France’s justice minister has said the country’s authorities “failed” to prevent the theft of priceless royal jewellery from the Louvre museum, as the government ordered a review of security measures at cultural institutions across France.
Police on Monday were still searching for four suspects who stole eight necklaces, brooches and diadems in an audacious burglary on Sunday morning, when thieves used a truck platform to break into the first floor of the museum.
“What is certain is that we have failed,” justice minister Gérald Darmanin told France Inter on Monday. “People were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of Paris [and] get people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewels.”
The theft has placed a spotlight on security at France’s museums.
On Monday, interior minister Laurent Nunez called on police services to assess security measures at cultural institutions across the country and “reinforce” them if necessary, his advisers said.
The thieves made off with an emerald necklace and earrings worn by Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, as well as jewellery worn by other 19th century queens.
The thieves had also stolen the crown of Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoléon III, but they seemingly dropped it during their escape. The headpiece containing 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds was found damaged outside the museum.
In a statement on Monday afternoon, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said a jacket and some equipment abandoned by the burglars had been sent for analysis, as had a bottle of liquid partly poured into the truck platform.
The Louvre, which attracts nearly 9mn visitors per year, remained closed on Monday for a second consecutive day after the thefts from the gilded Apollo Gallery.
The theft comes just months after President Emmanuel Macron announced an €800mn makeover for the museum, including the increased “safety and security of the collections”, as well as urgent repair work on the 800-year-old building. He said on Sunday that “the theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history”.
The burglary risks further embarrassment for France on the international stage, after months of political turmoil in the country.
A leaked report from the Cour des comptes, France’s state auditor, obtained by AFP on Monday, said there had been a “persistent delay” in deploying technology to protect works in the Louvre, with some parts of the museum left without surveillance cameras. The auditing body declined to comment on the reports.
Political opponents on the far right have seized on the incident as a further example of dysfunction in France. Jordan Bardella, president of the far right Rassemblement National party, described the thefts as “an unbearable humiliation for our country. How far will the crumbling of the state go?”
Éric Ciotti, a right-wing deputy and ally of the RN, also blamed the government for failing to secure historical treasures. “When the State no longer guarantees the security of its treasures, the entire nation is under threat,” he said.
But former president François Hollande, a socialist member of parliament, called on politicians to avoid “unleashing polemics”.
“Of course we have to reinforce security at our museums,” he told BFMTV, but also “go after groups, gangs, bands, and even those making orders often from abroad, to recuperate objects of an exceptional value.”
He also floated the possibility that foreign actors may have ordered the heist in a bid to “destabilise” France.
Darmanin called on critics to wait for the results of the investigation, but admitted the burglaries had struck a chord with French people.
“In the same way as when Notre-Dame burned [in 2019], it was our church that burned even for those of us who aren’t Catholic, having jewels stolen from the Louvre in such an extraordinary way, hurts and gives a very negative image of France.”
This story has been corrected to specify that Empress Marie-Louise was Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, not his first.
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