The head of the Louvre announces

Paris — The director of the Louvre Museum said Wednesday that new surveillance cameras and anti-intrusion systems will soon be installed at the iconic Paris monument after last month’s impressive work. crown jewels theft.

The cameras, about 100 in total, will be operational by the end of next year, while the anti-intrusion systems will begin to be installed within two weeks, said Louvre director Laurence des Cars.

He described the systems as equipment that will prevent intruders from approaching the museum buildings, but did not offer details. The new surveillance cameras will attempt to ensure “complete protection of the museum environment,” he said.

“After the shock, after the emotion, after the evaluation, it is time to act” in the most visited museum in the world, Des Cars told the Cultural Affairs Committee of the National Assembly.

He said it was all part of more than 20 “emergency measures” that will be implemented. The new measures also include the creation of a “security coordinator” position at the museum, and the position was posted this month, he added.

On the day of the robbery, it took the thieves less than eight minutes to force their way through a window of the Apolo Gallery with the help of a forklift and steal the 88 million euros (102 million dollars).

At least five people have been arrested, but none of the jewelry has been recovered. Parisian master jeweler and gem appraiser Stephen Portier told News themezone that thieves would have difficulty selling the loot.

“Everyone knows about this theft. The dealers will have photographs of each piece in their offices,” he said. “So if they think they’re being offered diamonds from the Louvre… they’ll ask some tough questions. And they’ll contact the police.”

Des Cars revealed some new details about the security breach that enabled the October 19 theft, saying the power tools used by the thieves to cut into the display cases were disc cutters intended for concrete.

“It’s an approach that hadn’t been envisioned at all” when the Apollo Gallery’s display cases were replaced in 2019, he said. At the time, they were designed primarily to counter a weapons attack from inside the museum, he added.

Footage from the museum’s cameras shows that during the theft, the display cases “held up remarkably well and were not broken,” he said. “The videos show how difficult it was for the thieves.”

Des Cars emphasized that improving security is a priority of the decade-long “New Renaissance of the Louvre” plan launched earlier this year, with an estimated cost of up to 800 million euros ($933 million), to modernize infrastructure, relieve overcrowding and give the Mona Lisa a dedicated gallery by 2031.

With the Louvre crumbling under the weight of mass tourism, des Cars has restricted the daily number of visitors to 30,000 in recent years.

The famous glass pyramid inaugurated in 1989 was supposed to receive about 4 million visitors a year, he recalled. This year more than 8 million people visited the Louvre.

“The extensive modernization that the Louvre underwent in the 1980s is now technically obsolete, with equipment that has been outperforming for 40 years,” des Cars said.

On Monday, the Louvre announced it would temporarily close some employee offices and a public gallery because they were structurally fragile.