The Louvre heist transferred jewels to a more secure vault after the brazen daylight assault highlighted major security failings.
In a seven-minute heist, a gang of power-tool thieves stole more than $102 million worth of crown jewels last week.
Now, in a desperate attempt to protect what remains of its precious gems, the Louvre has moved them to a high-security underground vault.
Escorted by the secret police, they were taken to the Bank of France, just 500 meters away.
There they will be held in the bank’s “Souterraine” vault, which is 27 meters below its headquarters and houses France’s gold reserves.
It is considered impenetrable with a door half a meter thick, seven tons and a 17-ton cement block.
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Get past that and you’ll find a 35-ton rotating turret that stops any forced entry attempts dead in their tracks.
It comes as last Sunday’s heist highlighted major security breaches at the Louvre when thieves stole France’s crown jewels in broad daylight.
The gang scaled the side of the world’s most visited gallery before opening a window to break in and steal the jewellery, all within seven minutes.
Four men arrived at the museum on scooters and used a crane to access the Apollo Gallery on the first floor.
They went up to the balcony and used a glass cutter to cut through the window.
Using power tools, they opened display cases and stole nine brilliant pieces from France’s most valuable jewelry collection.
The jewelry was from the collection of Napoleon and Empress Josephine, including a necklace that belonged to Napoleon’s wife,
The gang, described as a “highly organized commando unit” made up of four people, were last seen disappearing on two Yamaha mopeds around the French capital.
Shocking new footage has emerged of the thieves escaping down the crane with their stolen loot.
there isnot a single police officeror security guard in sight as the thieves descend onto the sidewalk before speeding away on scooters.
French ministers insist that museum security was functioning properly.
But Louvre director Laurence des Cars has spoken of an “aging” infrastructure.
He even said last week that the only camera monitoring the area where the thieves broke into the Louvre was pointing in the wrong direction.
There have even been fears that the Louvre robbery was an inside job.
Paris police have now said they have found digital forensic evidence that a member of the museum’s security team was in contact with the thugs.
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It was also revealed yesterday that a second French museum was raided just hours after the Louvre robbery.
A German company has also attracted attention after launching a tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign for its cherry picker that was used in the heist.