France has recently been hit by a series of museum thefts. Just hours after eight precious Napoleonic jewels were stolen in broad daylight from the Louvre in Paris on October 19, the Diderot House of Enlightenment Museum, located in Langres, Haute-Marne in northeastern France, also reported a theft. A collection of 2,000 gold and silver coins from the 18th and 19th centuries has disappeared, resulting in a loss of about 90,000 euros (441,700 Malaysian ringgit).
The Diderot House of Enlightenment is dedicated to commemorating French Enlightenment thinker Denis Diderot. The Langres city government stated that the theft occurred during the early morning hours of October 20. Museum staff, upon arriving for work in the morning, discovered that the front door had been forcibly broken into and display cases shattered, with a batch of 18th to 19th-century gold and silver coins missing from the collection. An initial police investigation indicates the thieves acted with planning and used professional methods, taking only some high-value exhibits, while other relics were left unharmed.
The stolen coins were a major highlight of the museum's collection, consisting of 1,633 silver coins and 319 gold coins, with a total value of about 90,000 euros. These coins date back to between 1790 and 1840, and were discovered by workers during museum renovations in 2011. They were later incorporated into the permanent exhibition and symbolize the historical heritage of France's Enlightenment period.
Cultural Sector Calls for Strengthened Security
The Langres city government strongly condemned the theft and announced that until the museum's security system is upgraded, a private security company will be hired for nighttime surveillance. The museum is currently closed temporarily, and police are continuing to track the thieves and the whereabouts of the stolen goods.
The French cultural community expressed shock at the string of thefts and is urging the government to strengthen security measures at museums across the country to prevent further losses of precious cultural relics.