Millions In Jewellery Stolen In Heist At French Museum
STRASBOURG: A group of robbers made off with jewellery worth millions of euros from the French luxury glassmaker museum, Lalique, in the early hours of Sunday.
The heist occurred only a few months after the shocking gemstone theft at the Louvre Museum in Paris last year.
According to a source close to the investigation, the masked gang broke into the museum located in Wingen-sur-Moder, northeastern France, at around 5.30 a.m. local time.
They were reported to have damaged the main door before heading to the jewellery display room and smashing six glass display cases at the premises.
“Approximately 20 pieces of jewellery were stolen. The total loss is currently being assessed, but it could reach several million euros, possibly nearing 4 million euros (RM18.6 million),” the source told AFP.
However, another source informed that the stolen jewellery was made of crystal without high-value gemstones, thus meaning they could not be melted down and resold as raw materials.
The museum management via its official website announced that the premises would be closed for several days following the break-in to allow for investigations to be conducted.
The investigating source added that the museum’s alarm system actually sounded during the incident, but the private security company took a long time to complete the inspection process.
The delay resulted in a cleaning worker being the first person to arrive at the scene and subsequently contacting the police, while closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage is now being examined by the authorities.
The museum, which is dedicated specifically to showcasing the work of jewellery designer and Art Nouveau and Art Deco glassmaker Rene Lalique, opened in 2011 near the company’s manufacturing factory.
The premises house more than 650 extraordinary works including Art Nouveau jewellery, Art Deco glass, and contemporary crystal pieces of high value.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Wingen-sur-Moder, Christian Dorschner, expressed his anger over the incident and criticised the failure of the security company involved in handling the emergency situation.
“All the alarms sounded and functioned properly as they should. However, there was a major failure on the part of the security company when they did not act immediately and failed to notify the gendarmerie (military police) of the incident.
“The gang certainly had very good inside information to carry out the heist in such a manner, and they are believed to be experts,” he told the local newspaper Les Dernieres Nouvelles d’Alsace (DNA).
The Lalique Museum had previously been classified as a sensitive location and received special security controls following the massive heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris in October last year, which saw jewellery worth USD102 million (RM415 million) stolen in less than eight minutes.
Berita Harian