A theft at the Louvre was recorded by security cameras, authorities conclude, contradicting the version of the museum management

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The real problem, investigators told a French Senate hearing Wednesday, was that security guards in the museum’s control room were taking too long — up to eight minutes — to switch to the live feed.

When this happened, the thieves were already fleeing, investigators said.

This discovery increased scrutiny of the security breaches that led to the theft. It is one of several new revelations presented during the hearing, which have reignited calls for the resignation of Laurence des Cars, the director of the embattled museum.

Des Cars told the same Senate committee in October that the invasion was not filmed, repeating that explanation in an interview last month with The New York Times.

The Louvre declined to comment.

The researchers also concluded that:

• Police and security officers arrived at the scene of the break-in 30 seconds after the thieves fled. Several errors prevented them from arriving a few minutes earlier.
• Museum officials gave officers the name of the long, narrow room where the jewelry was stored, but did not specify which end of the gallery they should go to.
• As a result of the employees’ mistake, police went to the wrong side of the building and had to turn back when they realized their mistake.
• Two previous audits identified museum security issues in 2017 and 2019, but the findings were not communicated to Des Cars and her team when she was named director in 2021.

The findings have deepened the sense of crisis at the museum, where employees from three unions are expected to begin a multi-day strike Sunday evening to protest what union leaders describe as an “increasing workload,” confusion between instructions from museum management and an unresponsive management style.