The director of the Louvre Museum has admitted to major security lapses after a daring daylight robbery saw thieves make off with more than $157 million

worth of jewels from one of the world’s most visited cultural landmarks.

The heist, which unfolded in less than four minutes, saw four hooded assailants use a crane to reach an upstairs window of the Paris museum — located just steps from the Mona Lisa — before smashing their way inside and seizing priceless crown jewels. The group fled on motorbikes, evading capture despite alarms being triggered and security staff rushing to the scene.

Louvre director Laurence des Cars told a French senate committee that the museum’s exterior CCTV network had failed to detect the burglars in time, allowing them to reach the building unnoticed.

“We did not detect the thieves’ arrival early enough,” Des Cars said. “Despite our efforts, despite our hard work every day, we were defeated.”

She revealed that gaps in the museum’s camera coverage left parts of the facade — including the window the thieves broke through — completely unmonitored. Des Cars, who offered her resignation following the theft, said it was refused by Culture Minister Rachida Dati, who is also facing criticism over the incident.

Des Cars said she had repeatedly warned officials about vulnerabilities in the Louvre’s centuries-old security system.

“The warnings I had been sounding came horribly true last Sunday,” she told senators.

In response, the museum plans to install upgraded surveillance equipment, establish no-parking perimeters around the building, and request the Interior Ministry to station police officers inside the museum itself.

‘Gone in four minutes’

According to investigators, the thieves spent less than four minutes inside the building before fleeing. Eight items were stolen, including a sapphire diadem, emerald and diamond necklaces, and pieces once belonging to French royalty such as Queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense, and Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon’s second wife.

Among the missing pieces are Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and corsage-bow brooch. Her emerald-studded imperial crown, encrusted with more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum — damaged but restorable.

The robbery has sparked national outrage and debate over France’s cultural security, with many questioning how such an audacious theft could occur at the country’s flagship museum in broad daylight.

Visitors to the Louvre on the day of the heist reported seeing no unusual police presence. “It felt like a normal day,” said Tomás Álvarez, a 29-year-old tourist from Madrid.

The jewels remain missing, and the thieves are still at large. The incident comes amid a troubling trend — at least four French museums have been robbed in the past two months, according to local media reports. Photo by Ali Sabbagh, Wikimedia commons.