Seven minutes is all it took for four men in construction worker disguises to steal $102 million worth of jewelry from the number one art museum in the world – the Louvre. An outrage broke out mere moments after the announcement. How could people steal from one of the most secure art museums in the world in just seven minutes?
The thieves entered from the second-floor balcony and through a window, using a ladder on the back of a truck. They utilized an angle grinder to gain access to the Apollo gallery, located not too many rooms away from the room housing the Mona Lisa. It was two robbers dressed in construction worker clothing. They smashed two display cases using an angle grinder to steal eight pieces of jewelry formerly belonging to Napoleon and his wife, according to police reports. At 9:37, the alarm was tripped, and by the time authorities had shown up, they were gone.
To think that such a phenomenal stunt took place in just the time span of seven minutes is unbelievable and almost movie-esque. The question stands, how did the security guards not see them or question the men as they were using machinery on the window? Why is there no alarm for outside windows being tampered with, and who was on the security cameras at the time of this happening? It’s safe to say that the people working for the Louvre have been getting too comfortable recently, and it’s showing especially in an incident such as this. For an art museum of this caliber, the security should be much more on point, especially since, according to ArteliaGroup.com, the museum is equipped with 300-500 security guards working at a time, knowing that there are billions of dollars worth of art just sitting there.
The French President Emmanuel Macron had a heavy opinion on the matter, stating that this is “an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our history,“ and promised that “The perpetrators will be brought to justice.”
This isn’t the first time that someone has stolen something from the museum; it’s almost unbelievable that they could let it happen again. You would think that they would have tightened security heavily.
There is currently a country-wide manhunt for the criminals at large, but the future is looking grim for the Louvre and all of the people working there. I’m sure there’s been a lot of trust lost in them to keep the sacred and historical items safe.
