In an effort to tighten up security failings, a crane could be seen lifting a freight lift to a window of the Louvre Museum on Tuesday, but this time it wasnât jewel thieves.
After the worldâs most-visited museum experienced a stunning heist in October, the Paris landmark is working to protect its items.
With the Louvre closed on Tuesday, maintenance workers in security helmets and high-visibility vests mounted a freight lift to a second-floor balcony to secure new metal bars outside a now-infamous window.
Investigators are still on the hunt for missing crown jewels worth $102 million.
The sight mirrored what happened Oct. 19, when a team of thieves posing as workers used a similar lift, then sliced through the window to enter the landmarkâs Apollo Gallery. They grabbed tiaras, emerald earrings, a sapphire necklace and other treasures, and eight minutes later they were gone.
All four suspected thieves have been arrested and charged. But the jewels havenât been found.
Samuel Lasnel of maintenance lift company Grima-Nacelles said he and his crew arrived before dawn Tuesday to carry out the high-profile window-securing operation.
âWe have already worked at the Louvre â on the interior, on the exterior, inside and outside the pyramid â weâve been here several times,â he told The Associated Press. âThe Louvre knows us well.â
The Louvre didnât publicly comment about Tuesdayâs security operation.
The robbersâ haul included a diamond-and-emerald necklace Napoleon gave to Empress Marie-Louise, jewels tied to 19th-century Queens Marie-Amalie and Hortense, and a pearl-and-diamond tiara belonging to Napoleon III’s wife, Empress EugĂ©nie.
Footage from museum cameras showed that the two who broke into the ornate Apollo Gallery used grinders to cut into jewelry display cases.
The emerald-set imperial crown of Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum.
