Free Republic

A 38-year-old woman has been charged with complicity in organised theft and criminal conspiracy with a view to committing a crime. Separately, a man, aged 37, was charged with theft and criminal conspiracy. Both denied any involvement.Two men who had previously been arrested were already charged with theft and criminal conspiracy after officials said they had "partially recognised" their involvement in the heist...Four men carried out the lightning-quick daylight theft.Two of the alleged thieves -- who had been arrested earlier -- later admitted their involvement...The magistrate later ruled that the woman -- who has not been named -- must stay...

Europe’s inability and unwillingness to protect its incorporeal cultural cornerstones has now extended to its tangible cultural icons.I write from a quiet, mountainous part of Central Europe. The scenery is idyllic, and the fall air is crisp. But much as the case has been in my other recent trips to the European continent, the sights I see and the conversations I hear are all underscored by a similar haunting concern: Will there even be a Europe, in any cognizable sense of the term, a century from now?All across the continent, fertility rates have plummeted, and the Christianity that defined the...

PARIS, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Suspects have been arrested over the brazen jewellery heist at the Louvre, just as one of them was about to fly out of France, the Paris prosecutor said on Sunday.

Two men who allegedly stole $100 million worth of France’s crown jewels during a daring daytime heist at the Louvre Museum were arrested on Saturday night — as one suspect was captured trying to flee the country. One of the suspects, who has not been identified, was busted as he was boarding a flight bound for Algeria at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris newspaper Le Parisien reported. The men, from Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburb north of Paris, were detained by police as part of the investigation of “organized gang robbery” and “conspiracy to commit a crime.” Police were tipped off on...

Detectives investigating the £76m heist at the Louvre have uncovered evidence of an inside job, The Telegraph understands. Sources close to the investigation claim that digital forensic evidence shows a member of security was in contact before the heist with individuals thought to be the perpetrators.

Is he even real? The internet had many questions after a photo began to circulate.It was, in nearly every way, an ordinary photo distributed by The Associated Press to news media outlets. It showed three policemen leaning against a silver car parked in the courtyard of the Louvre Museum in Paris just hours after the brazen theft of a collection of French crown jewels on Sunday.But then there was the dapper man standing jauntily on the right side of the photo.The officers, the A.P. caption said, were there to block the entrance to the museum. But the man, dressed in...

The Louvre’s first female museum director hired the first female security chief and less than a year later Napoleon’s crown jewels were stolen in broad daylight while the museum was open. NEW – Louvre security chief Dominique Buffin, the museum’s first female security head, hired last September by the museum’s first female director, accused of being a “diversity hire” — Telegraph From corporate meltdowns like Bud Light, target, Disney et al to mid-air collisions that cost lives, DEI is operationally catastrophic and systemically destructive.

PARIS — Following Sunday's theft of artifacts valued at $102 million, the Louvre updated its security system to include a second generation indoor Ring camera. "It automatically records when it detects motion and I can access all the footage from the app. It's a huge step forward for our security," said Louvre President-Director Gerard des Carre. "It's so cool." At the time of the theft, the Louvre had relied on an old lock from the 1700s and a French bulldog named Terry for security. Sadly, it didn't have a Ring camera, which experts believe would have prevented the theft...

The Louvre failed to spot a gang of thieves early enough to stop the theft of €88m (£76m) worth of French crown jewels, the museum's director has revealed. Laurence des Cars, speaking publicly for the first time since the heist on Sunday, told French senators that CCTV around the Louvre's perimeter was weak and "aging". The only camera monitoring the exterior wall of the Louvre where they broke in was pointing away from the first-floor balcony that led to Gallery of Apollo housing the jewels, she said. "We failed these jewels," she said, adding that no-one was protected from...

Witnesses said a man, who was wearing a wig and dressed as a woman, was rolling past Leonardo da Vinci's famous masterpiece in a wheelchair before suddenly leaping to his feet and launching a pie at the canvas.

Environmental protest groups have been targeting art history's greatest treasures to raise awareness about climate change. Climate activists turned up the heat this year, decrying the global environmental crisis by targeting internationally renowned art museums’ greatest treasures—and leading many onlookers to wonder how their actions actually connect with the greater good. Just last week, protesters from Just Stop Oil glued themselves to Vermeer’s iconic Girl With a Pearl Earring in the latest of their ongoing art demonstrations, previously focused on the U.K. The same group blasted a Rolex store in London with orange paint less than 24 hours later. In...

PARIS — Leonardo DaVinci's famous Mona Lisa has reportedly been retrofitted with laser eyes by security at the Louvre in response to attacks by activists attempting to vandalize the painting for attention. "Visitors have always remarked how Mona Lisa seems to be looking at them wherever they are standing," said Louvre head of security Dominique Javert while eating a baguette and smoking a cigarette in one of those long cigarette holder thingies. "Now, visitors should know that her piercing gaze comes equipped with a pair of 10-kilowatt laser blasters ready to vaporize anyone who would vandalize her." According to sources,...

History has been made! Over the weekend, a crew of thieves rolled up to the famous Paris museum IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, used a crane to get inside, used chainsaws to cut through protective cases, and stole nine priceless treasures. One, the gold crown of Empress Eugénie seen in the video below, was discarded and found later by police. To make matters worse, it's not even the only heist from a major Paris museum that's made headlines this week. A Chinese woman has been charged with stealing gold nuggets on September 16th from the city's National Museum of Natural History. That...

One of Europe’s crown jewels, a centuries-old relic of irreplaceable artistic and historical import, has fallen into the hands of vandals intent on abusing it for their own selfish gain. I’m not talking about the heist at the Louvre over the weekend, in which thieves broke into the most famous art museum in the world and stole nine items from a collection of priceless treasures that once belonged to French royals of no less significance than Napoleon Bonaparte. I’m talking about the plunder of Canterbury Cathedral, in which a church founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury and famed as the...

It took only a few minutes for thieves to execute a brazen daylight heist at the famed Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday morning, coming away with jewels of “inestimable value” that had once belonged to Napoleon and his empresses.The Louvre, which is the world's most visited museum with 8.7 million visitors in 2024 alone, was closed for the day as police investigated how the robbers were able to carry out the most high-profile theft in modern French history."The theft committed at the Louvre is an attack on a heritage that we cherish because it is our History," President Emmanuel...

The blame game and finger pointing following Sunday’s heist at the Louvre Museum kicked off almost as quickly as the seven-minute robbery itself. France’s far right was quick to assign fault to President Emmanuel Macron and his allies for the brazen, broad-daylight theft of the French crown jewels, accusing them of being soft on crime and failing to sufficiently protect the nation’s heritage. MEP Marion Maréchal proposed eliminating the €200 cultural vouchers offered to French high school students, a measure put in place under Macron, and redirecting those funds toward protecting France’s “national treasures.” She later called France the “laughingstock...

Authorities say the Empress Eugénie Brooch was among the stolen itemsIt is the most spectacular robbery at the Louvre museum since the Mona Lisa disappeared in 1911.And it poses serious questions about levels of security covering French artworks, at a time when they are increasingly being targeted by criminal gangs.According to France's new interior minister Laurent Nuñez, the gang that broke into the Apollo Gallery on Sunday morning was clearly professional.They knew what they wanted, had evidently "cased the joint" in advance, had a brazenly simple but effective modus operandi, and needed no more than seven minutes to take their...

The robbers reached a first-floor window and cut through glass panes to gain access to the museum's gilded Galerie d'ApollonThe Louvre Museum in Paris has been forced to close while police investigate a brazen heist which reportedly targeted France's priceless crown jewels. Thieves wielding power tools broke into the world's most visited museum in broad daylight, before escaping on scooters with items said to be of "incalculable" value. Here is what we know about the crime which has stunned France.How did the theft unfold?The theft occurred on Sunday between 09:30 and 09:40 local time, shortly after the museum opened to...

The broad-daylight heist, which was pulled off in just seven minutes, happened 800m from Paris police headquarters.Robbers wielding power tools scaled a furniture hoist outside the Louvre to make off with priceless jewellery from the world-renowned museum on Sunday (Oct 19), taking just seven minutes for the brazen, broad-daylight heist, sources and officials said. The criminals struck at about 9.30am local time when the museum had already opened its doors to the public. They entered the Gallerie d'Apollon (Apollo's Gallery) building, which is home to the French Crown Jewels, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. It did not say...

Thieves broke into the Louvre museum in Paris and stole priceless jewelry before escaping on motorbikes, French officials said Sunday. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called the heist a "major robbery" that "lasted seven minutes." Speaking to France Inter, he said the thieves "entered from the outside using a basket lift" and "a disc cutter" to slice through glass panes containing precious jewels. "The investigation has begun, and a detailed list of the stolen items is being compiled," the ministry said in a statement. "Beyond their market value, these items have inestimable heritage and historical value." The museum posted on X...