France reels from consecutive museum break‑ins, with gold and silver coins stolen at Langres and nearly €90 million in jewels larcenied from the Louvre.
Gold and Silver Coins Stolen at Maison des Lumières
On 20 October, thieves broke into the Musée Maison des Lumières Denis‑Diderot in Langres, taking an undisclosed number of gold and silver coins originally unearthed in 2011 during renovation work. The glass display case was smashed, and the police have begun an investigation led by the Chaumont prosecutor’s office.
This breach came just one day after a spectacular Louvre heist that yielded jewels estimated at €88 million.
Barcena Suspect Arrested in Barcelona
In late September, a woman named Chinna was detained in Barcelona after attempting to sell melted gold. She is accused of stealing six gold ingots, worth roughly €1.5 million, from the Paris Natural History Museum. The theft, which took place a few days after the Louvre incident, involved a cyber‑attack that disabled the museum’s alarm system.
At the time of her arrest, she was found with a kilogram of re‑melted gold; the largest ingot weighed over 5 kg and originated from Australia.
Louvre Director Confesses Security Failures
Laurence des Cars, director of the Louvre, testified before the French Senate, admitting that the museum had failed in safeguarding its assets. She cited insufficient early detection of the thieves, a lack of cameras along the Seine, and overall inadequacy of the alarm system, which allowed the theft of eight jewels valued near €90 million.
Des Cars rejected claims of delayed upgrades to the security system and emphasized that the renovation project launched by President Macron is essential for modernizing the institution.
Four Museums Targeted in a Month
French media report that at least four museums in France were robbed in the span of one month, underscoring a worrying trend of targeted cultural thefts.
