Director of the Louvre Museum Says €88 Million Was Lost Due to CCTV Gaps Theft of Jewelry

The head of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, says that thieves were able to steal €88 million worth of jewelry on Sunday because of holes in the CCTV system.

Laurence des Cars, the head of the Louvre Museum, said that thieves were able to steal €88 million worth of jewelry on Sunday without being caught because the museum’s security cameras had big holes in them.

At a meeting of the French Senate on Wednesday, Des Cars admitted that the famous Paris museum’s security system did not catch the thieves in time. “No matter how hard we worked every day, we lost,” she said, adding that the museum was weak because it didn’t have any outside cameras watching it.

Des Cars says the thieves used a crane to break an upstairs window that wasn’t being watched by CCTV. They then stole the famous French crown jewels and rode off on motorcycles. She said that she had been warning for a long time that the old security equipment needed to be updated right away because it wasn’t up to par with modern surveillance standards.

“The terrible things I had been saying came true last Sunday,” she told lawmakers, adding that she had offered her retirement to Culture Minister Rachida Dati but she turned it down.

Three days after the brazen theft that shocked France and made news around the world, the museum reopened to the public on Wednesday.