Louvre's Security Oversight Led to €88 Million Heist, Director Admits

Sat Oct 25 2025 13:06:40 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The Louvre director reveals significant security lapses allowed thieves to steal priceless crown jewels, as the museum's CCTV was inadequate to monitor the break-in.

Laurence des Cars, director of the Louvre, acknowledges severe security failures during a recent theft of €88 million worth of jewels, revealing that key CCTV failed to capture critical areas. Despite slow investment in security improvements, des Cars plans to enhance surveillance to prevent future incidents. A temporary closure of the gallery follows the heist, which remains under investigation.

The Louvre failed to spot a gang of thieves early enough to stop the theft of €88m (£76m) worth of French crown jewels, the museum's director has revealed.

Laurence des Cars, speaking publicly for the first time since the heist on Sunday, told French senators that CCTV around the Louvre's perimeter was weak and 'aging'.

The only camera monitoring the exterior wall of the Louvre where they broke in was pointing away from the first-floor balcony that led to the Gallery of Apollo housing the jewels, she said.

We failed these jewels, she said, adding that no-one was protected from 'brutal criminals - not even the Louvre'.

Ministers have given press conferences and interviews and denied security failings, but des Cars cut through that and admitted the Louvre had been 'defeated'.

Her words gave an extraordinary insight into the difficulty of securing the world's most visited museum, and how bad its security really was.

The CCTV system outside the Louvre was 'very unsatisfactory' she said and inside, some areas were too old to adapt to modern technologies.

Despite the museum's huge volume of visitors - 8.7 million last year alone - investment in security has been slow. Des Cars, who became director of the Louvre in 2021, plans to double the number of CCTV cameras.

She told senators that she had been warned about how 'obsolete' the equipment at the Louvre was, contrasting it with the modern equipment of the Musée d'Orsay, where she previously worked.

Some senators expressed incredulity at the Louvre's security, questioning why there was just one camera on the external wall facing the river and why it was pointed the wrong way. This failure meant that the lorry carrying the gang and their mechanical ladder used to reach the gallery's first floor was not spotted as it arrived at the foot of the Gallery of Apollo.

Des Cars accepted, 'There is a weakness at the Louvre and I acknowledge it completely.' She praised security guards for acting quickly to evacuate the building upon realizing there had been an intrusion, but admitted, 'We did not spot the arrival of the thieves early enough... the weakness of our perimeter protection is known.'

The museum reopened on Wednesday, though the gallery remains shut. The hunt for the gang continues. They made off with eight prized pieces of jewelry, including a diamond and emerald necklace given to Napoleon's wife and a 19th-Century diamond-studded crown belonging to Empress Eugenie, which was dropped during the escape and subsequently damaged.

Des Cars conveyed her commitment to restore the damaged crown as she announced that initial assessments suggest a delicate restoration is possible.

As the investigation unfolds, the Louvre aims to address its security issues, hoping to initiate improvements in 2026 despite the challenges posed by its aging infrastructure.