November 2024
Paris, France
Cognacq-Jay Museum
Hiéron Museum
November 29, 2024
Heist alert! Thieves armed with axes and baseball bats raided an exhibit of 18th century snuffboxes, that are allegedly worth €1 million. The Cognacq-Jay Museum was hosting an exhibit of stunningly beautiful things that can fit in a pocket…oh and they are super valuable. Many of the objects were on loan from other institutions like the Louvre, Victoria and Albert Museum and the UK’s Royal Collection. The theft occurred while the museum was open to the public and the thieves used their weapons to smash exhibit cases. They were in and out in 3 minutes and escaped on motorcycles. It feels like there is something we could learn from this unfortunate incident. It could be that we should avoid exhibits focused on materials that are both very valuable and small, or if you choose to do that invest in extra security. You can learn more about it here and here.
Gentle Reader, that was not the only theft at a Parisian museum, because the next day the Hiéron Museum was robbed. Three masked thieves entered the museum armed with a rifle and chainsaws, while a third served as a lookout outside. Shots were fired in the lobby before moving onto the armored glass protecting their target, which they attacked with chainsaws. Once that was out of the way they began looting the beloved national treasure Via Vitae. The marble sculpture has 138 ivory and gold statuettes that depict 9 scenes from Jesus’s life. As of this writing it is not clear how many statuettes were stolen. After a few minutes the thieves escaped on motorcycles “throwing nails on the road, thus neutralizing two gendarmerié vehicles that were chasing them.” You can learn more about it here.*
