Security at the Louvre was just reinforced after a major heist. Days later, two men prove it’s still not enough

The Louvre Museum in Paris added more security after thieves stole valuable jewels last month. But just a few weeks later, two men from Belgium showed that the new security still has problems. They managed to sneak a painting into the museum and hang it on the wall in the same room where the Mona Lisa is displayed.

According to The Sun, security cameras caught the two men walking into the museum with a rolled-up canvas and a picture frame made out of LEGO pieces. Security staff checked their bag and then let them go inside.

French news outlets had said that the Louvre put in place stronger security after the theft on October 19. But the two pranksters, named Neal and Senne, were able to put their frame together once they got inside. They attached their painting to it and walked over to the room with the Mona Lisa. 

This really doesn’t look good for the museum

They put the painting up on a different wall in that same room because there were too many security guards near the famous artwork. They got to the museum about an hour before it closed and left right after they hung up their painting.

The jewelry theft in October took only seven minutes from start to finish. Four men showed up on scooters at about 9:30 in the morning. They used a lifting machine to get up to the first floor of the Apollo Gallery. One person watched out for trouble while the others cut through a window with a special tool. The thieves got away with expensive items like a necklace, a brooch, and a tiara.

Police in France arrested four people who they think were involved in the theft. Three of them were charged with stealing as part of a criminal group. A fourth person, a woman who is dating one of the other suspects, was charged with helping them commit the crime. 

All four are also facing charges for working together to plan a crime. But police say there is one more important suspect who they have not caught yet.

People who know about art theft say the stolen jewelry will probably never show up for sale. When thieves steal very expensive items like these, it is usually because a rich person asked them to do it. That person keeps the stolen items hidden so only they can look at them. 

The Louvre has about 380,000 items in total, and more than 35,000 of them are on display for people to see. It is the most popular museum in the world, with about 8 to 9 million people visiting every year, including celebrities like Adam Sandler.

Neal and Senne have pulled off similar stunts before. They once hid in the bathrooms at the Allianz Arena in Munich and also snuck onto the red carpet at an event in Venice. What they did at the Louvre makes people wonder if the museum’s new security is really good enough to keep safe one of the biggest and most important art collections in the world. The Mona Lisa itself has been the target of vandalism attempts in the past, which makes these security problems even more worrying.