Paris: France’s Culture Minister Rachida Dati has defended the Louvre Museum’s security system following a daring jewel heist that took place over the weekend, insisting it functioned properly during the theft of priceless Napoleonic-era artefacts.

Addressing lawmakers in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Dati said:

“The Louvre museum’s security apparatus did not fail, that is a fact. The Louvre museum’s security apparatus worked.”

Her remarks come amid growing questions over how thieves managed to scale the iconic museum’s façade using a basket lift, force open a window, and smash display cases in the Apollo Gallery — all within a matter of minutes on Sunday morning.

The burglars escaped with eight historic objects, including a sapphire diadem, a single earring and necklace linked to 19th-century French royalty such as Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense, an emerald necklace and earrings from Empress Marie-Louise, as well as a reliquary brooch, and a diadem and corsage-bow brooch that once belonged to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III.

“The robbery was a wound for all of us,” Dati added. “Why? Because the Louvre is far more than the world’s largest museum. It’s a showcase for our French culture and our shared patrimony.”

Security and Surveillance Under Scrutiny

Although Dati insisted the system functioned correctly, she has launched an administrative inquiry in addition to the ongoing police investigation, aimed at ensuring full transparency. However, she did not provide specifics about how the heist unfolded if the cameras and alarm systems were operational.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez also confirmed that the museum's alarm system was triggered when the intruders forced open a window in the gilded Apollo Gallery, home to the French Crown Diamonds collection.

“There are cameras all around the Louvre,” Nuñez told LCI television on Monday, without disclosing whether the surveillance footage had successfully captured the suspects’ movements, citing the active investigation.

Nuñez said police were alerted by a witness and responded swiftly, arriving two to three minutes after the alert. However, the entire heist lasted less than eight minutes, with the thieves spending under four minutes inside the museum.

Museum officials have not confirmed the estimated value of the stolen jewels, which date back to the Napoleonic and Second Empire periods, but historians and curators consider them irreplaceable due to their cultural and historical significance.