The Louvre transferred some of its jewellery collection to the vaults of the Bank of France on Friday as a precaution, French radio network RTL reported.
The items, which reportedly included the «Crown Jewels» exhibited in the Apollo Gallery, as well as other jewels from other areas in the museum, were discretely transferred under police escort, the radio network added.
The bank’s vault, which is located 27 metres below its head office in the heart of Paris, is home to 90% of France’s gold reserves.
Last week, several thieves broke into the world-famous museum in broad daylight. They used a basket lift to access a balcony leading to the Apollo Gallery, forced open a window and broke display cases to steal the jewels, before escaping on two-wheelers. The robbery lasted between six to seven minutes.
A Paris prosecutor estimates that the jewels stolen from the Louvre last week were worth 88 million euros, but that the monetary estimate doesn’t include their historical value to France.
The heist sparked public outrage and has been criticised as a «national humiliation» by several French lawmakers. It also raised questions over museum security, for which officials at the Louvre had previously warned that there was a lack of investment.
However, in recent years, Europe has seen a noticeable surge in museum heists. In France alone, at least four museums have been robbed in the past few months.
