Another French museum robbed of 2,000 gold and silver coins hours after Louvre heist

The coins were selected with “great expertise”, a statement from the local authority told French media quoted by the BBC.

A part of the city’s private collection, the coins date between 1790 and 1840, and were recovered in 2011 during renovation at the museum, dedicated to French philosopher Denis Diderot.

The Landres theft is the latest in a recent string of theft at French cultural institutions, including the Louvre last week.

According to art detective Arthur Brand, museums across Europe could see a flurry of copycat raids in the coming months.

If someone can target the Louvre and escape with the French crown jewels, local thieves may think “let’s try our nearest museum”, he told the BBC, underlining that security is a problem for many cultural institutions.

‘We failed these jewels’: Louvre director

The Louvre’s director Laurence des Cars told French senators this Wednesday that CCTV around the Louvre’s perimeter were weak and “aging,” with the only camera monitoring the exterior wall of the museum where thieves broke in “pointing away from the first-floor balcony” that led to the gallery housing the jewels.

“We failed these jewels,” des Cars said, adding that no-one was protected from “brutal criminals – not even the Louvre”.

According to a preliminary report quoted by the BBC, one in three rooms in the Louvre lacked CCTV and that its wider alarm system did not go off.

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said security protocols had “failed”, stating that the thieves being able to drive a modified truck up to the museum had left France with a “terrible image,” BBC reported.