Laurence des Cars, the director of Paris’s renowned Louvre museum, has tendered her resignation, which French President Emmanuel Macron accepted on Tuesday.
The move comes as the institution grapples with the aftermath of a high-profile jewel heist and disruptive industrial action.
President Macron’s office stated he accepted her resignation, “praising an act of responsibility at a time when the world’s largest museum needs calm and a strong new impetus to successfully carry out major projects involving security, and modernisation.”
Ms des Cars’ resignation comes after a year of scandals at the world-famous museum that has drawn the critical eye of the authorities, government and media.
The museum has been significantly affected by an October robbery, where four burglars stole jewels valued at $102 million, which remain unrecovered.
The thieves took less than eight minutes to force their way into the museum and leave, using a freight lift to reach the building’s window.
Footage from museum cameras showed that the two who broke into the ornate Apollo Gallery used grinders to cut into jewellery display cases.
Employees at the Louvre also went on strike in December, with the heist highlighting long-standing concerns that crowding and thin staffing were undermining security and working conditions at a museum that welcomes millions of visitors each year.
The world famous musuem also suffered water leaks that damaged priceless books and paintings, but spared Leonardo Da Vinci’s iconic Mona Lisa. The incident occurred in room 707, home to works by 19th-century French artist Charles Meynier and 16th-century Italian Bernardino Luini.
Earlier in February, Paris prosecutors said that nine people were being detained in connection to a decade-long suspected ticket scheme. The nine have been formally charged and brought before investigating judges.
Among the suspects are two Chinese tour guides accused of bringing groups of tourists into the museum by fraudulently reusing the same tickets multiple times for different visitors, allegedly with the help of Louvre employees.
The Louvre had filed a complaint back in December 2024, prosecutors said. Investigators estimate losses of more than 10 million euros ($11.8 million) over a decade, with the alleged criminal network suspected of bringing in up to 20 guided groups a day.
