They hung their own paintings at the Louvre near the ‘Mona Lisa’: 2 German nationals arrested

Two visitors to the Louvre museum in Paris were arrested on Saturday after placing two paintings on a wall, not far from the famous “Mona Lisa”, AFP reported, citing police sources.

According to police, two German nationals glued two paintings to the wall of the “Salle des États” gallery, measuring approximately 30 by 40 centimeters, using adhesive tape. One depicted one of the suspects in armor, while the other showed both in the company of a woman.

They were first detained by the Louvre’s security service and then arrested for damaging the museum’s walls. According to AFP, they told police they did it for fun.

Museums in France, as well as across Europe, have been on high alert over the past year. The reason, however, is not visitors adding trivial objects to museum walls, but thieves taking valuable exhibits from them.

Almost a year ago, the Louvre was the target of a major robbery, during which crown jewels worth $102 million were stolen in broad daylight from the Apollo Gallery, not far from the Mona Lisa. It was followed by a series of thefts at various museums.

Immediately after the Louvre robbery, a state audit report was made public, declaring the museum’s security system “outdated and inadequate” and noting “repeated delays in the planned modernization of the security systems”. After that case, Laurence des Cars, the first woman to hold the position of president and director of the Louvre, resigned in February. The next day she was replaced by Christophe Leribault.

During the summer, Leribault told the French Senate that the Louvre was “running out of steam”, as urgent infrastructure problems had piled up, while they faced a “major investment challenge”. A new video-surveillance system along the museum’s outer perimeter is due to be installed in January.

Source: AFP