Louvre jewel heist: Window used to loot $102 million attracts tourists; social media quips, ‘This attraction is free’
Louvre Museum's broken window has taken the spotlight after $102 million jewel heist. It has become the new tourist attraction which ignited discussions online.
Louvre Museum has become the centre of attraction in recent days, not because of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, nor because of the precious jewel's it showcases but because of Sunday's high-profile heist. The iconic building that represents pinnacle of 19th century “haute joaillerie” is in focus for its chainsaw cut glass windowpane.
The most visited museum of the world reopened to visitors on Wednesday, October 22, days after the brazen daylight robbery. Days after thieves stole Napoleonic jewellery worth ₹896 crore ($102 million) in an audacious daytime heist, the broken window is attracting crowds and has become Paris’s newest tourist attraction.
Following the most dramatic heist in decades in France’s history, the visitors were seen queuing up outside the museum, which is home to some of the most canonical works of Western art. However, the Apollo gallery doors remained closed for visitors while three grey panels blocked the view of the tampered window.
A user wrote, “So robbing the Louvre was as simple as climbing to the 2nd floor, smashing the window glass , entering the museum, smashing the glass cases and taking the items? No lasers? No metal bars? I mean, for a multi-million dollar museum, I’m shocked it was that simple.”
Another user remarked, “So, the window of the Louvre looting gallery is just a basic glazing with a blind in a 19th-century wooden frame?”
A third user stated, “The most beautiful jewels of the Louvre behind a completely rotten French window that hasn't seen a painter in decades and with the alarm OUT OF ORDER!”
A fourth comment read, “Even after the heist, art lovers still flock the magic of the Louvre never fades.”
A fifth user replied, "A few months ago #Macron announced plans to strengthen security at the #Louvres, sparing no details. Today we learn that the room in the Louvres housing the Crown's most precious jewels is protected by a wooden window and simple glass."
A sixth user said, the window “is the Louvre's new attraction; the exterior visit will soon become paid 🙃😂.”
A seventh user said, “This attraction is free 👌”
An eighth user remarked, “Bercy could charge for the photo!”
Louvre Museum's director reacts
According to the museum's director Laurence des Cars, the Louvre's cameras failed to detect burglars in time. While speaking at a French senate hearing on Wednesday, she said that she will ask France’s interior ministry for a police station to be set up inside the museum.
Blaming the inapt CCTV surveillance outside the gallery, she asserted that it “didn’t cover the balcony” the perpetrators used to break in.