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In the wake of recent robberies, Louvre Museum In Paris, the world’s most visited museum, museum security measures are under intense scrutiny, obviously for very good reasons.
A leaked report by France’s top auditing body, Cour de Compte, has raised serious concerns about the valuable museum’s security system.
As noted by Reuters, the report claims the facility suffered from “chronic underinvestment in information systems.”
It was also revealed this week that the password to the surveillance system was apparently “LOUVRE,” making it easier for robbers to hack into the system, as reported by other news outlets.
On October 19, a team of four broke into the Apollo Gallery in broad daylight and stole eight pieces of jewelry worth a total of 88 million euros ($102 million). Seven people were arrested for their involvement in the crime. 4 suspects He was formally charged.
The diamond and sapphire tiara, which belonged to France’s last queen Marie Amélie and was also worn by Queen Hortense and Isabel of Orléans, was stolen in a brazen robbery on October 19th. According to the Louvre, the tiara contains more than 1,000 diamonds. (Stéphane Maréchal/RMN-Grand Palais)
Fox News Digital contacted the Louvre to ask if this robbery has affected the museum. Security measuresHowever, the museum said it “does not discuss security issues.”
Fox News Digital also reached out to several major U.S. museums for comment about possible upgrades to their security systems, but did not immediately receive a response.
New video purports to show Louvre thieves in action during brazen daylight heist
The Louvre has been robbed before, joining a long history of high-profile art heists.
Just read a little bit.
Swipe from frame
In August 1911, the Louvre was thrown into panic when a work by Leonardo da Vinci was exhibited. “Mona Lisa” It turned out that he was missing.
As Fox News Digital previously reported, the thief ripped the painting from its frame, hid the artwork under his coat and fled.
Paris’ famous Louvre Museum closed on October 19th after several precious jewels were stolen in a brazen robbery. (Zhang Weiguo/VCG, via AP)
“news [of the theft] “The damage spread like wildfire and a generous reward was promised for her return,” the Louvre says on its website.
Louvre museum to close due to robbery, French officials say
Two years later, Vincenzo Perugia, a glassmaker working at the Louvre, tried to sell da Vinci’s stolen masterpiece to an Italian art dealer.
The world’s most famous painting was eventually returned to the Louvre after the dealer alerted authorities.
The theft on Oct. 19 occurred in broad daylight. The jewelry stolen that day was valued at $102 million. (Thibault Camus: Associated Press)
According to History.com and other sources, Perugia was arrested on charges of theft and received only a short prison sentence.
remains unresolved
Much more recently, another robbery occurred at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
It remains unresolved to this day.
Agence France-Presse reported in a report that the museum “has not been able to keep up with the installation of equipment to ensure the protection of the works.” (Antoine Guillory-Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
According to the Associated Press, two men posing as local police officers entered the museum in the early hours of March 18, 1990, claiming they were responding to a call for a disturbance.
Brazen Louvre robbers may have been hired by collectors, prosecutors say
The men outran two security guards and tied them up with duct tape.
the thieves were able Steal 13 pieces of artwhich lasted approximately 81 minutes and included works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, and Manet.
In 1990, two men posing as local police officers broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and stole 13 pieces of art. Today, an empty picture frame left behind by the thief hangs as a memorial to the lost work. (John Turmacchi/Boston Globe via Getty Images)
The masterpieces, including Rembrandt’s “Storm on the Sea of ​​Galilee,” were estimated to be worth as much as $500 million at the time of the heist.
The empty picture frame left behind by the thief still hangs in the museum.
“This is a deliberate choice aimed at sending a message to the public, a reminder of what was lost and a hope that someday what was will return,” the newspaper said. FBI website.
From the famous Mona Lisa theft in 1911 to contemporary museum heists, art crime continues to challenge security systems around the world. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)
“Critical period”
In September 2025, just one month before the latest Louvre robbery, thieves broke into the Natural History Museum in Paris.
According to Agence France-Presse and the museum itself, they stole gold samples worth about $700,000.
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The intruders allegedly used an angle grinder and a torch to enter the complex, Artnet.com and others reported.
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In response, a museum spokesperson declared that this was a “critical period for cultural institutions” in France.
In 2018, thieves stole a golden toilet at Blenheim Palace, where Winston Churchill was born. (Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
And at the country estate of Blenheim Palace, where Winston Churchill was born, thieves stole a golden toilet in 2018.
The toilet is art installation “America” by Maurizio Cattelan. It was made of 18-karat gold and insured for about $6 million, according to the Associated Press.
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Armed with a hammer and crowbar, the thieves broke into the house by breaking a window while prying open a toilet pipe within five minutes, before fleeing in a stolen car.
Symbol of “Renaissance”
On Friday, Louvre director Laurence de Carre said Empress Eugénie’s diamond- and emerald-encrusted crown, which was apparently dropped during a robbery on October 19 and was found damaged outside the museum, will be restored as a symbol of the “Renaissance,” according to the Associated Press.
The only thing recovered outside the museum on the day of the robbery was Empress Eugenie’s crown, which contained more than 1,300 diamonds.
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De Caze said the crown was likely damaged when it was removed from the display case, not when it fell to the ground, but by a “small cut” made by the disc cutter used by the thieves.
In addition to Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed reporting.
