A famous northwest museum France was the victim of a robbery at one of his display cases, in which they took a loot of million dollars.
The missing was discovered on October 21, although the theft would have occurred two days before, when the Museum of Louvre.
In recent months, the country has suffered many robberies from different museumsto the point that it is estimated that one happens every few hours.
A silent assault: this was the millionaire robbery of the Diderot museum
He October 21when opening the doors of The House of Lights Denis Diderot, The workers got a surprise: one of the display cases was destroyed.
As they approached, they noticed that the set of around 2000 coins1633 gold and 319 silver, valued at more than 100 million dollars.
The Diderot museum was attacked on the same day as the Louvre. Photo: X (@croniosv)According to reports, the robbery at the museum located in Langres, France, It actually happened on October 19and went unnoticed for two days while the place was closed.
The authorities detailed that the door was forced. However, they indicated that the sequences of the acts suggest that the criminals knew the facilities and had selectively planned the operation, since they did not take other works or objects.
The coins were selected with «great skill,» according to a statement from the local authority to French media. These date from between 1790 and 1840 and are part of the city’s private collection, after being discovered in 2011 during renovation works on the building that today houses the museum.
It is estimated that the theft occurred a few hours before the assault on the Louvre Museum, Therefore, investigators are trying to determine if there was a relationship between the events.
The Louvre robbery, other antecedents and an alarming number
He Sunday October 19 around 9:30 in the morning, using a forklift truck, a pair of thieves entered through a window into the Louvrewhile two others stayed outside ringing bells.
Those who entered headed towards the Apollo Gallery, where they stole nine Napoleonic jewels, whose total value is also estimated at more than 100 million dollars.
Among these pieces are the diadem of Empress Eugenie, a necklace from the sapphire set of Queen Maria Amelia and Queen Hortensia, and a brooch known as a “reliquary brooch.”
Yesterday, October 25, two of the suspects who would have participated in the commando that stole the jewels were arrested in Paris, although the treasure has not yet been recovered.
Although the Louvre robbery transcended worldwide due to its importance, it was not the only crime committed against museums in recent times in France.
The Louvre Museum suffered the loss of 9 of its jewels. Photo: REUTERS/Abdul Saboor On October 12, four young men in their twenties pointed guns at the security guard and other workers at the Museum of President Jacques Chirac, also located in Paris, and they took a collector’s watch and money from the cash register there.
Although the alleged thieves were arrested on the same Sunday, just 48 hours later the Museum was robbed again, without the stolen loot having yet been reported.
In September, for its part, some criminals broke into the Paris Natural History Museum and they took six gold nuggets valued at around 1.8 million dollars.
For this theft, a Chinese citizen was arrested in Barcelona, while trying to get rid of molten gold, and is now in preventive detention.
Also in September, thieves stole two Chinese porcelain plates and a vase with an estimated total value of 7.6 million dollars from the National Porcelain Museumin the city of Limoges. The items remain missing and no arrests have been made.
Due to these facts and others, it is estimated that in France one theft of cultural property every 7 hours, and that, per year, around 1,300 works disappear, including paintings, sculptures, jewelry and more. The archive of the Central Office to Combat Trafficking in Cultural Property (OCBC), for its part, registers nearly 100,000 art objects that are currently being searched.
