We failed: Louvre boss

GRILLED: MUSEUM DIRECTOR ADMITS TO INADEQUATE SURVEILLANCE

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Covered in leaves, an abandoned and broken bicycle lies on a street in the Altona district of Hamburg, Germany.

(AFP)

The director of the Louvre on Wednesday admitted to inadequate camera surveillance of the museum's outside walls, three days after thieves robbed it of prize jewels in a brazen daytime heist.

But Laurence des Cars said a diamondand emerald-studded crown that the burglars damaged and dropped as they fled on Sunday could be restored.

Senators on Wednesday grilled Des Cars, who spoke publicly for the first time since the seven-minute theft on Sunday morning of jewels worth some €88 million (about R1.8 billion).

"Despite our efforts, despite our hard work on a daily basis, we failed," she said.

Des Cars said all alarms had functioned during the burglary, but admitted that security cameras did not adequately cover the thieves' point of entry.

"The only camera installed is directed westward and, therefore, did not cover the balcony involved in the break-in," she said.