The director of the renowned Louvre Museum in Paris is under intense examination following a major security lapse that enabled thieves to steal jewels valued at over $100 million.

In her inaugural public statement since the theft, Louvre Museum director Laurence des Cars admitted to a “terrible failure” in security measures, saying, “Despite our efforts and daily diligence, we fell short,” as reported by The Guardian.

Des Cars highlighted that the museum’s perimeter security was inadequate, with the sole camera positioned away from the balcony that accessed the gallery containing the valuable gems. Reports also indicated, as noted by The Guardian, that all alarms in the museum were operational during the incident.

Laurence des Cars, the Louvre Museum director, addressed the public for the first time regarding the recent jewel theft during a press conference on October 22, 2025, in Paris, France. (Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)

“We failed these jewels,” des Cars remarked, as reported by the BBC. She further stated that even iconic institutions like the Louvre are not immune to “brutal thieves.”

According to Laure Beccuau, the Paris prosecutor, in an interview with RTL radio, as mentioned in The New York Times, the burglars appeared to have used a truck-mounted electric furniture lift to execute the heist, having obtained it under the pretense of a moving job. Beccuau also commented on the difficulties thieves would face in selling the jewels at their full value if the pieces were dismantled or melted down, according to the Times.

Police secure the area outside the Louvre Museum in Paris, where burglars used a truck-mounted moving lift to reach a second floor window and steal royal jewelry valued at more than $100 million. (Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)

The thieves got away with a total of eight objects, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense. They also stole an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, and a reliquary brooch. Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch — an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship — were also part of the loot.

“The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish, for it is our history,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in an X post on Sunday. “We will recover the works, and the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Everything is being done, everywhere, to achieve this, under the leadership of the Paris prosecutor’s office.”

Forensic police officers arrive at the Louvre Museum after reports of a robbery in Paris, France, on Oct. 19, 2025. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

The heist has prompted a national reckoning, with some officials comparing the shock to the 2019 burning of Notre Dame cathedral. Beccuau told RTL radio that the team investigating the heist had grown from 60 investigators to 100, underscoring the importance of the case on national and international levels.