The financial loss from France's most dramatic heist in decades has been put at nearly €90m as the head of the Louvre prepares to face difficult questions over how thieves were able to steal priceless jewellery in broad daylight.
As police continued to search for the criminal gang behind the brazen robbery on Sunday, the Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told broadcaster RTL that the museum's curator had estimated the losses at about €88m (£76m). The museum's president and director, Laurence des Cars, is expected to respond to questions from the senate's culture committee on Wednesday afternoon, three days after the seven-minute robbery that targeted France's crown jewels.
A gang of four thieves forced their way into the Louvre's Apollo gallery shortly after the museum opened on Sunday morning, using a ladder from a furniture hoist on the street below and making off with eight pieces of Napoleonic jewellery. It is unclear whether the museum, which shut in the immediate aftermath and remained closed on Monday and Tuesday, will reopen on Wednesday.
Des Cars is expected to respond to questions over the speed with which the thieves were able to break through a first-floor window, the quality of the display cases that held the jewellery and the apparent lack of a rapid-response unit. Speaking to the national assembly on Tuesday, the culture minister, Rachida Dati, defended the museum and dismissed speculation that security cameras had not worked properly. She added that a portion of the Louvre's renovation budget would now be dedicated to updating its security system.
The museum hit back at claims about its outdated security setup, stating that the display cases protecting the stolen jewellery had been installed in 2019 and represented a considerable improvement. Paris prosecutors have charged a specialised unit known as the BRB with investigating the crime, and investigators from the Central Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Cultural Property are also expected to be involved.
Beccuau warned that the thieves would not earn €88m if they disassembled the jewels, and expressed hope they would not destroy them. Detectives have evidence including a yellow hi-vis vest with DNA traces, a crown that once belonged to Empress Eugénie, motorcycles, a licence plate, and the basket case used to access the gallery. The French government will not be compensated for the stolen works, as the state acts as its own insurer for the Louvre.
