The Louvre has moved some of France’s most valuable jewels after a mysterious day broke out of the Museum’s security.
ON FRIDAY A SECRET POLICE ESCORT TO MOVE HIM DURING BANK HOLIDAYS, 500M (about 500 yards) from the museum, reports French Media.
Today they are stored in the bank’s most secure vault, 26m (85ft) below the floor of the magnificent headquarters in Central Paris.
The vault is home to 90% of France’s gold reserves, as well as Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks and other national treasures. The content of this amount is an estimated €600m (£520m).
The “soulterraine”, as the vault is known is known to survive all attacks, according to the bank’s website.
The main shaft is protected by a 50cm-thick, seven-ton door made of concreter-resistant flame-resistant concrete and reinforced with steel.
Behind this door is a 35-ton rotating concrete Turret, which the bank says “prevents any possibility of forced entry”.
On Sunday, masked thieves used a knife to break a reinforced window in the Louvre’s Gallery in Awollo, where French jewels are stored.
Within eight minutes, the gang found treasures, including a necklace belonging to Napoleon’s wife Marie-Louise and a diadem of Napoleon III’s wife Eugenie, worth €88m).
The thieves used a mechanical ladder on the back of a truck to open the first floor to enter the gallery.
Interior minister Laurent Nunez says he has “every confidence” the thieves will be caught.
Although the French Ministers Inisters Security of the Museum worked properly during the day, the Louvre Director, Laurence Des Cars, spoke of the weak and “aging” infrastructure.
On Wednesday, DES CARS told French lawmakers that the only security camera that monitors the exterior wall is facing the wrong way.