Louvre to remain closed as minister says heist gives France “a terrible image”
The French justice minister has claimed that the recent heist of the Louvre gives France “a terrible image”.
On October 19th, the iconic museum in Paris was forced to close after masked robbers successfully raided the Louvre in broad daylight in just seven minutes. Four masked thieves entered the Louvre at 9:30am after gaining entry to a first-floor window through a mechanised lift attached to a truck.
It is also set to remain closed on October 20th.
The thieves managed to steal eight items from the Louvre belonging to a collection once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte’s family and the Empress Marie Louise. These items included A necklace, a brooch, and a tiara were among the items taken from the Napoleon and French Sovereigns display cases
As it stands, the value of the stolen jewellery is unknown and is currently being estimated.
Now, Gérald Darmanin, the justice minister of France, has said that the incident has wider ramifications on the country, telling France Inter radio, “People were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of Paris, get people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewels and give France a terrible image.”
He also said of the current mood in the country, “The French feel like they have been robbed.”
Currently, nobody has been arrested in connection with the robbery. However, Darmanin is confident they will be caught, stating, “These people will be arrested, there is no doubt about it, the question is when.”
Darmanin’s comments come after the Mayor of Paris Centre, Ariel Weil, likened the robbery to the Netflix show Lupin. The show follows the dealings of a fictional thief in Paris. He confessed, “It’s a shock…It’s clear we’re in Arsène Lupin. It’s been a movie script up until now. It’s hard to imagine that it’s seemingly so easy to burglarise the Louvre.”
The Louvre remains closed on October 20th. In a statement shared to their website, they said, “The Musée du Louvre will remain closed today for exceptional reasons.All reservations for today’s date will be refunded. We apologise for the inconvenience.”
