Louvre closed for second day, details emerge in jewel heist

The Louvre Museum remained closed to visitors for the second day Monday as new details emerged in the heist of priceless Napoleonic jewels, one of the most audacious museum burglaries in modern French history, which has exposed serious security failures at the famed institution.

A group of thieves using a hoist truck broke into a second-floor window in the Galerie d’Apollon of the Louvre Museum around 9:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, after the museum had already opened its doors to the public, before speeding off on motorcycles and were last seen on the A6 motorway.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said in a news release Monday that surveillance footage from the museum showed two men in yellow vests with two other accomplices. They said its anti-gang brigade is leading the investigation, with no suspects yet in custody.

The French Culture Ministry said in a statement Sunday that two high-security display cases were targeted and eight objects of “inestimable heritage value” were stolen during the heist. Among the eight stolen items, several once belonged to members of Napoleon’s family.

The items stolen were identified as a diadem, a sapphire necklace and earrings owned by Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, an emerald necklace and earrings owned by Empress Marie-Louise and the diadem and a large brooch owned by Empress Eugénie, as well as a brooch known as the “reliquary brooch.”

The theft triggered alarms located on the exterior window of the gallery and on the two display cases, but the thieves made off with the jewels in an operation that lasted under seven minutes.

“At the time of the break-in, which was particularly rapid and brutal, the five museum staff members present in the gallery and adjacent areas immediately intervened to apply the security protocol: contacting the police and giving priority to protecting people,” the French Culture Ministry said in its statement.

French officials credited the actions of the museum workers for the recovery of one of the stolen objects, the crown of Empress Eugenie, which was dropped by the thieves in their escape. Its condition is currently under review.

“Following yesterday's robbery at the Louvre, the museum regrets to inform you that it will remain closed to the public today. Visitors who have already purchased tickets will be automatically refunded,” a statement on the museum’s website read Monday.

The theft was condemned by French President Emmanuel Macron, who called it an attack on the nation’s heritage in a statement on social media.

“We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice,” Macron said. “Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor's office.”

But others have not been as hopeful. Renowned “art detective” Arthur Brand called the search for the jewels a “race against time” in remarks to Sky News. He warned that the thieves could likely melt down the items, and they could be “lost forever.”

The news has raised anticipation for a new report expected to be released in coming weeks by the Cour des Comptes, the supreme auditing institution in France.

A portion of the study was obtained by ABC News, which reported that the Cour des Comptes found a significant delay in the "deployment of equipment intended to ensure protection" of Louvre art and artifacts from 2019 through 2024. In fact, some rooms at the museum do not currently have full video surveillance, the report is said to have found.

“The Louvre New Renaissance project, which we launched in January, provides for strengthened security,” Macron assured in his statement after the theft. “It will be the guarantor of the preservation and protection of what constitutes our memory and our culture.”

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the theft exposed “great vulnerability” in France’s museums, and that he has instructed prefects nationwide to review and strengthen security at cultural sites.