PARIS: The Louvre museum in Paris reopened its doors to visitors on Wednesday, three days after closing due to the theft of precious royal jewellery.
From 9:00 am, the museum’s usual opening time, the first visitors began entering the world-famous institution.
The museum confirmed that the Apollo Gallery, where Sunday’s theft occurred, remains closed to the public.
The audacious daylight robbery on Sunday shortly after the museum opened caused estimated losses of around 88 million euros.
Paris prosecutor called the financial loss “unparalleled” but noted it was incomparable to the loss to France’s historical heritage.
Scores of investigators are looking for the culprits, working on the theory that it was an organised crime group.
Investigators believe the thieves clambered up a ladder on a truck to break into the museum, then dropped a diamond-studded crown as they fled.
They made off with eight priceless pieces, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his wife Empress Marie-Louise.
Another stolen item was a diadem that once belonged to the Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds.
Disappointed tourists were turned away at the entrance of the Louvre in the heart of Paris the day after the theft.
The museum remained closed on Tuesday as per its regular schedule before welcoming visitors again on Wednesday.
“We were really hoping it would be open. We had booked for today, and we wouldn’t have had another chance to come,“ said one visitor, Fanny, who travelled from the south of the country with her daughter.
The world’s most visited museum welcomed nine million people to its extensive hallways and galleries last year.
The theft reignited a row over the lack of security in French museums, after two other institutions were hit last month.
The investigation “is progressing”, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told local media on Wednesday.
Nunez confirmed that “more than a hundred investigators” had been mobilised for the case.
“I have full confidence, that’s for sure, that we will find the perpetrators,“ he said.
Museum director Laurence des Cars has not made any public statement since the theft.
Des Cars is set to appear before the Senate’s culture committee from 4:30 pm Wednesday.
She became the first woman to run the Louvre in 2021 and is expected to be questioned about security at the Apollo Gallery.
The Apollo Gallery houses the royal collection of gems from which the jewellery was stolen.
The museum on Tuesday hit back at criticism that the display cases protecting the stolen jewellery were fragile.
Museum officials said the display cases were installed in 2019 and “represented a considerable improvement in terms of security”. – AFP
