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Transcript
00:01With four large-scale robberies having taken place since September,
00:05security measures at French museums are under scrutiny.
00:09One of these robberies also took place in the heart of Paris,
00:12when six kilograms of gold were stolen from the Natural History Museum
00:16after thieves broke in overnight using a blowtorch.
00:19The nuggets are worth 650,000 euros.
00:23Just a fortnight before that, two Chinese porcelain dishes as well as a vase
00:27were taken from a museum in Limoges in central France.
00:30The works are worth 9.5 million euros.
00:34And on the 13th of October, after an unsuccessful attempt the day before,
00:38thieves set off with jewellery worth a million euros
00:41from the Jacques-Chiac Museum in the Corée's countryside.
00:44In some cases, it's thought gangs may be operating for very rich art collectors.
00:52Multi-billionaires can be involved in robberies like these,
00:55who, for their personal collections,
00:58they'll hire a group of burglars to steal very specific works.
01:04Last year, police advised that museums increase their level of security
01:08and even recommended removing certain works.
01:11The president of the Louvre wrote to France's culture minister,
01:14Rachida Dati, in January, to warn her about a number of flaws
01:17in what's the most visited museum in the world.
01:21Dati brushed off any responsibility following the theft.
01:25The problem has been swept under the carpet for 40 years.
01:29That's where the responsibility lies.
01:31Visitor's safety has been paramount.
01:33Safeguarding the works has been of lesser concern.
01:36But some have said that she should resign.
01:38When the Louvre has been broken into and that you've been warned ahead of time,
01:44then it goes without saying.
01:45If this had been her jewellery, something tells me she would have been more careful.
01:51Employees of the Louvre went on strike in June over a lack of workforce.
01:55Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has acknowledged that Sunday's seven-minute heist
01:59has given a, quote, terrible image of the country.
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