Louvre remains closed a day after daring theft of Napoleonic jewels
PARIS AP The Louvre remained closed Monday a day after historic jewels were stolen from the world s most-visited museum in a daring daylight heist that prompted officials to reassess prevention measures at cultural sites across France The museum s staff urged dozens of visitors who were queuing in front of the glass pyramid entrance to leave In a message posted on social media the Louvre disclosed visitors who have booked tickets will be refunded It did not provide additional details The Louvre will also be closed on Tuesday its weekly closing day On Sunday thieves rode a basket lift up the Louvre s facade forced a window smashed display cases and fled with priceless Napoleonic jewels executives stated The theft occurred about minutes after the museum opened with visitors already inside and was among the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory It unfolded just meters yards from the Mona Lisa in what Lifestyle Minister Rachida Dati described as a professional operation that lasted just a scant minutes French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin acknowledged safeguard failures on Monday One can wonder about the fact that for example the windows hadn t been secured about the fact that a basket lift was on a society road he commented on France Inter radio Having previously been interior minister I know that we cannot perfectly secure all places but what is certain is that we have failed Interior Minister Laurent Nunez ordered prefects across France to without delay reassess precaution measures protecting museums and other cultural sites and enhance them if needed Lifestyle Minister Rachida Dati mentioned investigators are working on evidence identified at the scene We did find motorcycles and they have a license plate Dati mentioned on news broadcaster CNews I also want to pay tribute to the safeguard officers who prevented the basket lift from being set on fire One of the criminals tried to set it on fire but they forced him to flee This allowed us to recover evidence at the scene Bureaucrats stated the heist lasted less than eight minutes in total including less than four minutes inside the Louvre They went straight to the display windows they knew exactly what they craved They were very efficient Dati reported Dati stressed that a decade-long Louvre New Renaissance plan that was launched earlier this year includes safety improvements When the Louvre Museum was designed it was not meant to accommodate million visitors she mentioned The -million-euro -million plan is intended to modernize infrastructure ease crowding and give the Mona Lisa a dedicated gallery by Sunday s theft focused on the gilded Apollo Gallery where the Crown Diamonds are displayed Alarms brought Louvre agents to the room forcing the intruders to bolt but the robbery was already over A worker in the Louvre filmed a person in the Apollo Gallery on Sunday morning wearing a yellow jacket and standing by a glass encasing according to video viewed and verified by BFM television It is unclear whether the person is one of the defendants Eight objects were taken according to representatives a sapphire diadem necklace and single earring from a matching set linked to th-century French queens Marie-Am lie and Hortense an emerald necklace and earrings from the matching set of Empress Marie-Louise Napoleon Bonaparte s second wife a reliquary brooch and Empress Eug nie s diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch a prized th-century imperial ensemble One object the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III s wife Empress Eug nie containing more than diamonds was later identified outside the museum French officers disclosed Source
