One week on, a breakthrough in the Louvre heist that exposed weaknesses and wounded French pride

PARIS — One week after four thieves swept through the Louvre in just seven minutes, the first arrests have been made in a case that exposed critical security weaknesses and wounded French pride

PARIS — One week after four thieves swept through the Louvre in just seven minutes, the first arrests have been made in a case that exposed critical security weaknesses and wounded French pride.

The robbers arrived early last Sunday with a furniture-lift truck, sliced through a window of the Galerie d’Apollon, threatened guards and smashed through two display cases, stealing eight of France’s crown jewels. The four suspects then sped off on scooters before police could respond.

Their take — necklaces, tiaras and brooches once worn by France’s long-departed royals and worth an estimated 88 million euros ($102.63 million) — has left investigators racing against time to recover the missing pieces before they can be broken up and melted down or sold off.

The arrests were made on Saturday, with one man arrested while “preparing to leave the country” from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said. AFP reports that two men were taken into custody on suspicion of organized theft and criminal conspiracy.

But seven days on, the daring heist that struck at the heart of France’s national pride still raises uncomfortable questions about how the world’s most visited museum was breached so easily.