Louvre museum director defends security plan after audit slams spends on new art and exhibitions

The president and director of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, claims to have taken "full measure" of the security flaws that led to the theft of Crown jewels valued at more than 88 million euros three weeks ago.

In an interview with France Info on Friday, she said that the Louvre's security plan - or "master plan" for security equipment - was being "implemented".

The plan includes "a whole series of improvements, particularly in terms of video surveillance", which Laurence des Cars believes is "one of the weak points" of the museum. She had already made this point when she was heard by the Senate Culture Committee a fortnight ago.

Des Cars also reaffirmed her determination to lead the museum's ambitious renovation project saying "the Louvre, which now more than ever needs to be transformed and modernised to become a fully-fledged 21st century museum, which it is not today".

Security and spending fails

In a damning report published on Thursday, the French Court of Audit accused the management of the Louvre of having "prioritised visible and attractive operations" to the detriment of security.

It claims that the world's most visited museum spent just €26.7 million on maintenance and upgrading between 2018 and 2024, compared with €105.4 million for the acquisition of works over the same period.

The document also points out that an official audit carried out in 2017 had already identified several "vulnerabilities" - including the "inadequacy and ageing nature of the site's technical protection systems" - and warned of the risks of a security "attack" against the museum with potentially "dramatic" consequences.

"Nearly ten years after [these] worrying results [...], the Louvre has not been able to go beyond the stage of technical studies", the report states.

The Cour des Comptes adds that the submission of this audit to the Louvre by France's national institute of higher security studies and justice (Inhesi) led to the preparation of a "security master plan", the finalisation of which has been delayed.

It claims that the call for tenders for the work to modernise equipment was not launched until December 2024 and that, of the €83 million allocated to this plan, only €3 million have been invested by the Louvre to date.

The management of the Louvre responds

In its response to the Court of Audit's report, the Louvre's management denies having remained inactive since the 2017 audit, pointing out in particular that it has put in place between 2019 and 2021 "the definition of an emergency action plan".

What's more, six months after taking over as director of the museum in 2021, Laurence des Cars herself called for this plan to be strengthened, judging that its "level of ambition" was "not sufficient".

For the Louvre's president, the museum "is a whole" in which "we must not pit work against the acquisition of works of art, or the welcoming of all visitors". Laurence des Cars said that the museum's management had "fulfilled all [its] missions".

Four suspects have been indicted in connection with the investigation into the high-profile daylight robbery of the world's most visited museum on 19 October. However, the stolen jewels are still missing.

Two of them - men aged 34 and 39 from Aubervilliers in Seine-Saint-Denis - are suspected of having been part of the four-man commando that carried out the theft on the morning of 19 October. They have been charged with organised robbery and criminal conspiracy to commit a crime.

The other two suspects - a 37-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman - have also been charged with criminal conspiracy_._