The Louvre’s head of security has been accused of being a diversity hire who put France‘s national treasures at risk, following the shocking heist of Napoleonic jewellery over the weekend.
Dominique Buffin, 46, was hired as the Louvre’s first female security chief by Laurence Des Cars, the museum’s first female director, last year.
But Buffin, who has worked with the police and at France’s ministry of culture, was accused of being hired as part of a ‘feminisation policy’.
And both Buffin and Des Cars have faced calls to resign, following the ‘theft of the decade’ of eight pieces of the French Crown Jewels on October 19.
Eight objects were taken, according to officials. One object, the emerald-set imperial crown of Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie, containing more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum, French authorities said.
A worker in the Louvre filmed a person in the Apollo Gallery on Sunday morning wearing a yellow jacket and standing by a glass encasing.
Marion Maréchal, who leads the far-right Identity–Liberties party, wrote on social media: ‘[Culture minister] Rachida Dati must demand the immediate resignation of the museum’s director Laurence Des Cars and the security chief Dominique Buffin, whom she appointed… as part of a feminisation policy.
‘Evidently at the cost of forgoing competence and endangering the cultural heritage of our nation.’
Dominique Buffin (pictured) was hired as the Louvre’s first female security chief last year
Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Rally party, said the raid was a ‘wound to the country’s soul’.
And her protege Jordan Bardella, the president of the party, added: ‘This heist, which allowed thieves to steal the Crown Jewels of France, is an intolerable humiliation for our country. How far will the decay of the State go?’
Even those in government admitted to a serious lapse in security, with justice minister Gérald Darmanin saying: ‘What is certain is that we have failed, since people were able to park a furniture hoist in the middle of Paris, get people up it in several minutes to grab priceless jewels, and give France a terrible image’.
Des Cars asked Paris cops to carry out a detailed security audit of the museums she is in charge of in 2021.
Dati said on the weekend that the recommendations from this audit were made ‘a few weeks, a few months ago’.
She said the changes to the decades-old security systems were ‘beginning to be implemented’.
Her ministry was quick to stress that the systems had not failed, writing: ‘The alarms… were triggered. At the time of the break-in, which was particularly rapid and severe, the five museum staff present in the room and adjacent areas intervened immediately to apply the security protocol’.
The Louvre heist has become a wake-up call to other institutions in France, with interior minister Laurent Nunez ordering prefects across France to immediately reassess security measures protecting museums and other cultural sites and enhance them if needed.
The suspected thief was filmed as the group raided priceless jewellery that once belonged to Napoleon and his family
Dati said investigators are working on evidence found at the scene.
‘We did find motorcycles and they have a licence plate,’ Dati said on broadcaster CNews. ‘I also want to pay tribute to the security officers who prevented the basket lift from being set on fire. One of the criminals tried to set it on fire, but they forced him to flee. This allowed us to recover evidence at the scene.’
Sunday’s theft focused on the gilded Apollo Gallery, where the Crown Diamonds are displayed. Alarms brought Louvre agents to the room, forcing the intruders to bolt, but the burglary was already over.
Officials said the heist lasted less than eight minutes in total, including less than four minutes inside the Louvre.
