On Tuesday, a crane was stationed in front of the Louvre Museum in Paris – but this time it was not used by people Jewel thieves Theft of some of the country’s historical treasures.
Instead, the machine was operated by maintenance workers wearing safety helmets and high-visibility vests while a crew attached metal bars to the now-infamous second-floor window.
A team of thieves posing as workers broke in through this window using a basket lift on October 19th. The robbers broke into the museum’s Apollo Gallery and smashed open display cases to steal nine pieces of jewelry. It was all four suspected thieves arrested and chargedbut none of the jewels were restored except for a crown that was dropped as the group fled.
The theft exposed security vulnerabilities at the world’s most visited museum. According to Radio France, a recent security audit revealed that 35% of the rooms in the Denon wing where the stolen jewels were displayed are not monitored by security cameras. The gemstones were also not privately insured according to French law.
Emma Da Silva / AP 
Further security improvements are planned, the museum director said in November. Installation of new burglary protection systems should begin in early December, while more than 100 new cameras are expected to be in operation by the end of 2026, CBS News reports previously reported.
The Louvre did not comment publicly on Tuesday’s security operation. Samuel Lasnel of maintenance elevator company Grima-Nacelles said he and his crew arrived before dawn on Tuesday to carry out the high-profile window securing task.
“We’ve worked at the Louvre before – inside, outside, inside and outside the pyramid – we’ve been here several times,” he told The Associated Press. “The Louvre knows us well.”
