Four months after the jewelry heist in the Louvre last October, the director of the iconic Parisian museum, Laurence des Cars, is resigning. French President Emmanuel Macron accepted her resignation on Tuesday. The presidential palace did not specify a reason for her resignation, but after the controversial robbery in October, her position seemed untenable.
On October 19, four people entered a gallery of the museum with a mobile moving lift. There they robbed eight royal pieces of jewelry, worth about 88 million euros. Four suspects were arrested, but none of them is believed to be the mastermind behind the lightning robbery that lasted only a few minutes.
Some jewels were recovered immediately after the robbery around the Louvre, but the majority are still missing. The gemstones may have been recut to make them unrecognizable. The jewels were of great historical value. There were necklaces from Empress Eugénie, as well as earrings from the collection of Napoleon I.
In October, just after the robbery, Des Cars had also offered her resignation, but the Minister of Culture refused. Last week, parliamentarians investigating the case still called for the director’s departure due to failed leadership. The alarm system and video surveillance later turned out to be defective.
President Macron calls Des Cars’ departure on Tuesday a “responsible step”. According to the Elysée, the museum now “needs stability and a strong new impetus to undertake major security and modernization work.”
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