The Louvre Museum in Paris has seen a leadership change months after thieves stole France’s crown jewels from this global icon.
President Emmanuel Macron accepted Laurence des Cars’s resignation. He praised it for bringing “calm and a strong new impetus to successfully carry out major projects involving security, and modernisation.”
On 19 October, intruders used a stolen lorry’s hydraulic lift to access a Seine-side balcony and raid the Gallery of Apollo. Four suspects are in custody, but the eight gems worth 88 million euros remain missing. These include a diamond-emerald necklace Napoleon gave Joséphine. The gang dropped Empress Eugénie’s damaged diamond coronet, now deemed “nearly intact” and restorable.
Des Cars, director since 2021, highlighted failing CCTV—including a camera facing away from the entry point—and pushed to double surveillance amid budget woes for the 8.7 million-visitor site, home to the Mona Lisa.
A parliamentary probe cites “systemic failures,” while results are due in May. Recent issues include ticket fraud suspicions and a flooding leak.
The government seeks a new leader for security upgrades.