French auditors slam Louvre for focusing on projects over security following jewel heist

France's audit office released a report on Thursday stating that successive directors prioritised acquisitions over security, including a €1 billion renovation project, while leaving fire safety plans incomplete after 20 years.

The Cour des Comptes report criticised the museum's investment priorities under director Laurence des Cars and her immediate predecessor Jean-Luc Martinez, for allegedly favouring projects attractive to patrons and media over modernising the Louvre's security.

The report said the "New Renaissance" project exceeded €1 billion to create an additional entrance and excavate rooms for the Mona Lisa. Also, the fire safety master plan has remained incomplete for more than 20 years after implementation.

Camera installation has been slow, according to the report, with just 64% of the Denon wing — the museum's busiest section, housing the Mona Lisa — covered in 2024, up from 51% five years earlier. CFDT and SUD unions have warned for years about lagging maintenance and modernisation investments.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati unveiled the General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs' initial findings last Friday, revealing "chronic, structural underestimation of the risk of intrusion and theft," "under-equipped security systems," "inappropriate" governance and "totally obsolete" protocols.

"We can't go on like this," Dati said, acknowledging "security flaws" despite functioning alarms during the theft, according to Le Figaro. The Louvre plans to install anti-intrusion and anti-vehicle devices before year's end.

Thieves used a truck-mounted cherry picker to reach an Apollo gallery window, stealing eight crown jewels within minutes.

The French Senate this week examined shortcomings in the surveillance system and questions of responsibility, with lawmakers and unions questioning whether ministerial actions represent genuine reform or symbolic gestures.

Des Cars previously called for physical barriers preventing vehicles from parking near vulnerable display cases and a police station within the museum perimeter to enhance security at the site, attracting over 8 million annual visitors.

DNA traces aid indictment

Meanwhile, two additional people were indicted on Saturday following the burglary of the Louvre museum, a source close to the case told French outlet Franceinfo.

Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said a 37-year-old suspect was charged with "organised gang theft" and "criminal conspiracy". The other, a 38-year-old woman, is accused of being an accomplice. They were both incarcerated.

They both denied involvement, the prosecutor said.

Police arrested five people in connection with the case last Wednesday, including one who was tied to the case through DNA. Three were released without charges, Beccuau said.

"One of them was indeed one of the investigators' targets, and we had him in our sights", she said on French radio network RTL, adding that "DNA traces" had been found at the scene.

The four other arrests concerned people who could provide information about the burglary, she added, without revealing any further information.

At a press conference last Wednesday, Beccuau revealed that the two people arrested on Saturday evening on suspicion of involvement in the spectacular burglary at the Louvre had "partially admitted their involvement".