The Louvre has transferred some of its most precious jewels to the Bank of France, according to French radio RTL, after an audacious daylight heist last week exposed the famed museum’s security vulnerability.
The transfer of some precious items from the museum’s Apollo gallery, home to the French crown jewels, was carried out on Friday under secret police escort, RTL said, citing unnamed sources.
The Bank of France, which stores the country’s gold reserves in a massive vault 27 meters below ground, is just 500 meters away from the Louvre, on the Right Bank of the River Seine.
The Louvre and the Bank of France did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The thieves stole eight precious pieces worth an estimated $102 million from the Louvre’s collection on October 19, exposing security lapses as they broke into the world’s most-visited museum using a crane to smash an upstairs window during opening hours. They escaped on motorbikes.
News of the robbery reverberated around the world, prompting soul-searching in France over what some viewed as a national humiliation.
A French court has convicted the jewel thieves who tied up American socialite and reality TV star Kim Kardashian at gunpoint, before making off with her $4 million engagement ring and other jewels, in 2016. To note, at least ten people were in the dock, accused of involvement in the Paris heist, when the robbers, wearing ski masks and disguised as police, tied up Kim Kardashian and made off with the ring, given to her by her then-husband, rapper Kanye West and other jewels.
Kardashian travelled to Paris to testify earlier this month, telling the court she had thought she was going to die. The mixed panel of judges and jury convicted eight of the 10 on Friday, for crimes directly linked to the theft, while another defendant was found guilty of illegal weapons charges. Another one was acquitted.