Louvre heist jewels valued at over US$100 million, as director faces grilling

The jewellery stolen from the Louvre in Paris was valued at more than US$100 million, a French prosecutor said Tuesday, as the museum’s director faces security questions from a Senate committee over the brazen weekend heist.

The director, Laurence des Cars, has not made any public statement since thieves made off with royal jewels during a daylight robbery on Sunday that took just seven minutes.

The Louvre is expected to re-open on Wednesday following two days of shut doors for the investigation – to the frustration of thousands of tourists – and its weekly closure on Tuesday.

The theft reignited a row over the lack of security in French museums after two other institutions were hit last month.

“The Louvre curator estimated the damages to be €88 million (US$102 million),” Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Tuesday.

But she said the greater loss was to France’s historical heritage, adding that the thieves would not pocket the full windfall if they had “the very bad idea of melting down these jewels”.