Paris, 22 October (H.S.): France’s culture minister, Rachida Dati, asserted on Tuesday that the security apparatus at the Louvre Museum did not fail during a brazen weekend heist, despite thieves making off with a priceless collection of Napoleonic-era jewels. Her statement came in response to mounting questions about how the audacious robbery could have succeeded at the world’s most-visited museum.

The theft occurred on Sunday morning when intruders used a basket lift to ascend the museum’s facade, force open a window of the gilded Apollo Gallery, and smash display cases.

The entire operation lasted less than eight minutes, with the thieves spending under four minutes inside the gallery before escaping with eight historic items. The stolen artifacts include a sapphire diadem and an emerald necklace and earring set belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, Empress Marie-Louise, as well as Empress Eugenie’s diadem.

Speaking to lawmakers at the National Assembly, Dati insisted that the Louvre museum’s security apparatus worked, but she did not offer details on how the thieves circumvented the measures. She described the theft as a painful wound for all of us and announced an administrative inquiry to run parallel to the ongoing police investigation.

On Monday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez stated that the museum’s alarm was indeed triggered when the window was forced, and that police arrived on the scene within two to three minutes of being called. However, by that time, the robbery was already over. The swiftness of the heist has put the museum’s security protocols under intense scrutiny.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar