Louvre heist a 'deafening wake-up call' for museum security: Auditor

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PARIS: Last month's spectacular Louvre heist, in which robbers made off with some of France's crown jewels, was a "deafening wake-up call" for museum security, the head of France's highest audit institution said on Thursday (Nov 6).

Upgrades to security at the world-renowned museum have been moving at a "woefully inadequate pace", Pierre Moscovici told a press conference to present the audit court's report on the Paris museum.

Instead, the museum has prioritised "high-profile and attractive operations" at the expense of security, the Court of Auditors said in the new, sharply critical report.

A four-strong gang raided the Louvre, the world's most-visited art museum, in broad daylight on Oct 19, taking just seven minutes to steal jewellery worth an estimated US$102 million before fleeing on scooters.

The thieves parked a truck with an extendable ladder below the museum's Apollo Gallery housing the French crown jewels, clambered up, broke a window and used angle grinders to cut into glass display cases containing the treasures.

Authorities have so far not recovered the stolen jewels. But four people - three of whom are suspected of being directly involved in the heist - have been charged and detained.

The Court of Auditors' report examines the museum's management between 2018 and 2024.

It concludes that management made investment decisions "at the expense of the maintenance and renovation of buildings and technical facilities, particularly those related to safety and security".

It also highlights "a persistent delay in the deployment of security equipment for the protection of the artworks" which the museum "failed" to address during the period under review.

The Louvre's management said on Thursday it accepted "most" of the audit body's recommendations, while maintaining that the report failed to recognise some of its actions on security.

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