We failed, Louvre director tells French senators after Napoleonic jewels taken in daylight heist

The director of the Louvre in Paris yesterday acknowledged a “terrible failure” after thieves took seven minutes to break in via a window and steal €88m (£76m) of jewels, admitting there was “highly insufficient” security camera coverage of the outside walls of the vast building.

- Angelique Chrisafis

Laurence des Cars was grilled by senators about the spectacular heist in which four men used a truck with extendable ladder and furniture hoist to access a balcony, cut through a window and steal jewels from the Apollo gallery during opening hours.

“The whole world is shocked and we really don’t need this in France right now,” said Jacques Grosperrin, a senator from the Republicans party, adding that the international media was laughing at France.

Max Brisson, a senator from the same party, said France must not become “the champion of buck-passing” on who was to blame for the robbery.