Louvre pledges €20m a year for security after jewel theft

The Louvre has pledged about €20 million a year for security work until 2032 after an €88 million crown-jewel theft on Oct. 19, 2025, AFP/The Local France reported Sunday.

The pledge matters because parliament heard the Paris museum had used just €3 million of an €83 million security masterplan before the burglary, the Sunday news report said.

The theft of eight crown jewels put the world's most visited museum under scrutiny from police, government auditors and lawmakers. Investigations and reports cited outdated or missing CCTV, shortages of security equipment, no modern control room and the absence of a security director.

"We still feel the trauma of the burglary," Valerie Baud, a workers' representative from the CFDT trade union, told AFP.

The French Court of Auditors found the museum had "prioritised projects that were visible and attractive," according to the report. Louvre president Laurence des Cars resigned in February after the security criticism was followed by a staff strike, a water leak and a large ticket-fraud scandal.

Christophe Leribault, who replaced des Cars in February, said the museum was moving faster on security. "The security masterplan is making rapid progress," he told AFP in a written statement, while pointing to the difficulty of carrying out work without closing the museum.

The Louvre has had a dedicated security director since July, according to the report. Laurent Lafon, chairman of the Senate's culture committee, told AFP the institution still needs deeper change. "The Louvre needs a change in security culture, which has yet to happen and will take several years," he said.

The security overhaul sits inside a wider problem: the cost of renewing an ageing palace visited by nearly 9 million people a year. The report cited worn rooms, old plumbing and wiring, weak summer ventilation and little winter heating in parts of the building.

French President Emmanuel Macron in January 2025 presented a plan called "Louvre — Nouvelle Renaissance," including a new entrance and a separate space for the Mona Lisa. The Local France said the plan carried a proposed cost of €1 billion, a sum that now looks difficult against France's budget pressures.

Trade unions have challenged the museum's priorities. Christian Galani, a CGT representative, said security improvements did not require the full architectural programme, which he said failed to address priorities and aimed for an unsustainable rise in visitor numbers.

Leribault remains committed to the modernisation plan. His mandate includes finding more private money from donors who may receive public recognition or naming rights, while further ticket-price increases are also described as possible.

The funding target is €360 million. "It's a huge challenge, and I don't know whether I'll succeed," Leribault said in June.

Source: news report, AFP/The Local France, Oct. 18.