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France's Culture Minister has insisted that the Louvre's security system functioned "properly" during a weekend heist that saw priceless Napoleonic jewels stolen from the world-renowned museum. The audacious theft, which occurred on Sunday morning, involved thieves using a basket lift to scale the Louvre's facade, forcing a window, and smashing display cases before making off with the historic treasures. This incident has naturally raised significant questions regarding the museum's security protocols and the potential failure of its surveillance cameras. Addressing lawmakers in the National Assembly, Minister Rachida Dati insisted: "The Louvre museum’s security apparatus did not fail, that is a fact... The Louvre museum’s security apparatus worked." She confirmed the launch of an administrative inquiry, alongside a police investigation, to ensure full transparency. However, Ms Dati provided no explanation as to how the thieves executed the robbery if the security cameras were indeed operational. But she described it as a painful blow for the nation. The robbery was “a wound for all of us," she said. "Why? Because the Louvre is far more than the world’s largest museum. It’s a showcase for our French culture and our shared patrimony.” On Monday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the museum's alarm was triggered as the window of the Apollo Gallery was forced. Police officers arrived on site two or three minutes after they were called by an individual that witnessed the scene, he said on LCI television. Officials said the heist lasted less than eight minutes in total, including less than four minutes inside the Louvre. Nuñez did not disclose details about video surveillance cameras that may have filmed the thieves around and in the museum pending a police investigation. “There are cameras all around the Louvre,” he said. 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. Eight objects were taken, according to officials: a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a matching set linked to 19th-century French queens Marie-Amélie 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 Eugénie’s diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch, a prized 19th-century imperial ensemble.
