France suffers back-to-back multi-million euro Louvre and Langres museum heists

France has been shaken by a series of high-profile museum robberies, including a $102 million jewelry theft from the Louvre Museum's Apollo Gallery and the theft of nearly 2,000 gold and silver coins from the Denis Diderot House of Enlightenment in Langres. The Louvre heist involved masked thieves who used a truck-mounted ladder to break into the museum and stole eight rare pieces of Napoleonic jewelry in under four minutes, prompting the transfer of valuable jewelry to the Banque de France vaults for security. The Langres robbery, occurring just hours after the Louvre theft, targeted coins minted between 1790 and 1840, with the operation described as well-planned and precise. Experts and officials have raised concerns about the security vulnerabilities of French museums, many housed in historic buildings lacking modern protections, and the possibility that politically motivated appointments have compromised effective security leadership. Investigations are ongoing into potential links between the thefts, as authorities work to recover the stolen artifacts amid growing public outcry over the nation's ability to protect its cultural heritage. Opposition figures have condemned the incidents as national humiliations, emphasizing the urgent need for upgraded security measures to safeguard France's treasures.