The president and director of the Louvre Museum, Laurence des Cars, has called for the creation of a police station inside the museum, following the spectacular theft of historical jewelry worth an estimated €88 million last Sunday.

Appearing before the French Senate’s Culture Committee, des Cars acknowledged that the Louvre’s external surveillance system is “inadequate and outdated” and that the museum’s security efforts had been “defeated.” “Despite our efforts, despite our hard work every day, we were defeated,” des Cars told senators.

The remarks came as many in France and abroad questioned how four hooded assailants managed to drive up to the museum, smash a second-floor window, and escape with the loot without being apprehended. French ministers have since admitted that serious lapses in security occurred.

‘We Did Not Detect the Thieves Early Enough’

As reported in Reuters, Des Cars said the Louvre failed to identify the intruders’ approach in time. “We did not detect the thieves’ arrival early enough,” she said, blaming the museum’s lack of exterior surveillance.

Des Cars confirmed that all interior alarms and cameras worked during the heist, but admitted that the museum’s perimeter defenses remain vulnerable. “Our weaknesses in external protection are known and clearly identified.”

According to her testimony, the exterior security cameras do not provide full coverage of the museum’s façade, and the window used by the thieves was not monitored by CCTV. “The warnings I had been sounding came horribly true last Sunday,” she said, noting that she had long alerted authorities to the deteriorating state of the museum’s security infrastructure.

Des Cars pledged a series of immediate upgrades, including the installation of barriers and no-parking zones around the museum, an overhaul of the CCTV network, and a formal request to the Interior Ministry to establish a police station inside the Louvre.

She added that the museum’s outdoor cameras are “obsolete” and do not cover every façade — including the Apollo Gallery, where the theft occurred. “The only camera on that side faced west and did not capture the balcony used for the break-in,” she said.

Since assuming her post in September 2021, des Cars said she has repeatedly warned of the degradation and neglect of the Louvre’s buildings and structures, arguing that years of underinvestment have left the museum vulnerable.

Long-Term Security Overhaul

Des Cars outlined a plan to double the number of security cameras across the Louvre’s 37-hectare complex and modernize its surveillance and intrusion detection systems.

She rejected claims by France’s Court of Audit that there had been delays in implementing these reforms. “I disagree with the findings of the preliminary report,” she said. “There has been no delay in executing our safety plan.”

Reopening and Reflection

The Louvre reopened to the public this week, though the Apollo Gallery, where the jewels were stolen, remains closed. Visitors once again filled the museum’s halls, taking photographs of masterpieces such as Eugène Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People”, even as questions about how such a theft could occur at the world’s most-visited museum continue to mount. “The Louvre remains the world’s most visited museum,” des Cars said, “but it must also become one of the safest.”