Following the robbery of French crown jewels from the Louvre Museum on Sunday, a government audit leaked to Radio France revealed that the museum’s security system was “outdated and inadequate.”
The report, set to be released publicly next month, was conducted by France’s Court of Auditors, the body equivalent in function to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. One of its most damning findings was that there had been “repeated postponements of the scheduled modernization of security systems,” with cameras mostly installed “only when rooms have been refurbished,” according to the French newspaper Le Figaro.
“Under the effect of increasing visitor numbers, the museum’s technical equipment became obsolete much more rapidly,” the report reads.
In the museum’s Denon Wing, where both the Galerie d’Apollon and the Mona Lisa are located, one-third of the rooms have no CCTV cameras, according to the audit. In the museum’s largest sector, the Richelieu Wing, 75 percent of rooms are without cameras. In total, only 138 additional cameras have been installed since 2019.
The report further criticized the museum for failing to prioritize security enhancements despite its annual operating budget of €323 million ($376 million), adding that “the amounts committed are small compared to the estimated needs.”
The audit was initiated by Laurence des Cars, president and director of the Louvre, shortly after she assumed the position in September 2021, de Cars told press Sunday.
The findings have renewed criticism of the management of the world’s most visited museum, which has faced accusations from staff that overcrowding has impeded their ability to safeguard the 36,000 works on view at any given time. Staff went on strike in June to protest understaffing.
Earlier this year, the Louvre and President Emmanuel Macron jointly announced a major renovation of the museum, estimated to cost between €700 million and €800 million ($815 million–$932 million). Rachida Dati, the culture minister, said on Sunday that a portion of that budget would be dedicated to bringing the museum’s security system in line with the audit’s recommendations.
Dati added that new CCTV equipment would be installed and that a government inquiry into the theft and security failings would be launched in parallel with the ongoing police investigation.
The Culture Ministry, for its part, issued a statement Sunday afternoon emphasizing that the security system in the Galerie d’Apollon had operated as designed: “The alarms were triggered. At the time of the break-in, which was particularly fast and severe, the five museum staff present in the room and adjacent areas intervened immediately to apply the security protocol.”
In a statement published Sunday, the culture branch of the CFDT trade union, which represents staff across multiple museum departments, called for “a full and independent audit of security and prevention systems… increased staffing for surveillance and reception… and complete transparency on the investigation’s findings.”
