PARIS — The four thieves arrived on the south side of the Louvre on Sunday morning at 9:30 and pulled a truck up on the sidewalk, right next to the museum walls. They posed as workers, wearing yellow vests and setting out traffic cones.

巴黎——上週日早上9:30，四名竊賊來到羅浮宮南側，將一輛卡車停在人行道上，緊貼博物館外牆。他們偽裝成工人，身穿黃色反光背心，並且擺放了交通錐。

To anyone strolling along the banks of the Seine, just across the road, it might not have been immediately apparent that the setup was a ruse and that a daring robbery was underway. Workers are a common sight around the Louvre, an ancient, sprawling former palace, whose basic upkeep and renovations make it a constantly transforming construction site.

對於在塞納河對岸路邊散步的行人來說，這一幕可能不會立刻讓他們起疑心——畢竟作為一座古老且不斷擴建的昔日王宮，羅浮宮的維修與翻新工程司空見慣，工人隨處可見，施工現場幾乎無時無刻不在變化。

But inside the museum, where visitors were already snaking their way through more than 8 miles of exhibition space, the drama that was unfolding would soon become clear. Two of the thieves used an electric ladder attached to their truck to reach the Apollo Gallery, with its treasury of priceless crown jewels, then used power tools to break through a window.

但在博物館內，遊客已開始在超過13公里的展覽空間中蜿蜒穿行，很快人們將意識到一場大戲正在上演。兩名竊賊利用卡車上的電動梯登上阿波羅畫廊——那裡陳列著無價的王冠珠寶——隨後用電動工具砸破窗戶。

An alarm was immediately issued to the Louvre’s security command center, which contacted the police, according to Laurent Nuñez, the interior minister, speaking to LCI television Monday.

據內政部長洛朗·努涅斯週一接受LCI電視台採訪時透露，警報立即傳至羅浮宮安保指揮中心，該中心迅速通知警方。

The police were on their way within minutes, he said, but when they arrived, the masked intruders had already jumped on two motor scooters and taken off. In their haste, the intruders dropped a crown featuring 1,354 diamonds, 1,136 rose-cut diamonds and 56 emeralds. They also left behind a yellow vest and a bottle of fluid that they had used to douse part of the truck as they tried to set it on fire, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

他說，警方几分鐘內即趕往現場，但當他們抵達時，蒙面闖入者已騎上兩輛摩托車逃離。匆忙中，他們掉落了一頂鑲有1354顆鑽石、1136顆玫瑰式切割鑽石和56顆祖母綠的王冠。據巴黎檢察官辦公室消息，他們還遺落了一件黃色背心和一瓶用來澆在卡車上試圖縱火的液體。

But they made off with eight precious pieces of jewelry, including a royal sapphire tiara and a royal emerald necklace with its matching earrings. The pieces were not insured, which is not uncommon for state collections because of the prohibitive costs, according to France’s Culture Ministry.

但他們成功攜走八件珍貴珠寶，包括一頂皇家藍寶石冠冕和一套皇家祖母綠項鏈配耳環。據法國文化部表示，這些藏品未投保——這在國家收藏中並不罕見，因為保費高得令人望而卻步。

The Paris prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, said on French radio Tuesday that the items had been valued at 88 million euros (around $102.1 million) by a Louvre curator. But she said they would likely garner much less if they were disassembled and melted down.

巴黎檢察官勞爾·貝科週二在法國電台表示，一位羅浮宮策展人估計這些失竊物品總值8800萬歐元（約合1.021億美元）。但她補充說，若被拆解熔化，其價值可能會大幅縮水。

The robbery — the stuff of movies — has raised significant questions about whether one of the world’s most famous museums could have been better protected from a crime some politicians have suggested was both a tragedy and a national embarrassment.

這場有著電影般情節的盜竊案引發了嚴重質疑：作為全球最著名的博物館之一，是否本可更好地防範這場被一些政界人士稱為「悲劇」和「國恥」的犯罪？

For the moment, officials say they are working on the basis that the culprits are most likely members of a criminal gang, of a kind that experts say would probably be more interested in breaking down the stolen jewels for resale than for their artistic value. Officials are also zeroing in on how the museum’s alarm systems work.

目前，當局初步判斷犯罪嫌疑人很可能是某個犯罪團伙成員。專家表示，此類團伙更傾向於拆解珠寶轉賣獲利，而非看重其藝術價值。當局同時正深入調查博物館的警報系統運作情況。

Nuñez said that police patrols, which focus mostly on the Louvre’s crowded central entrance, were not near the thieves’ truck. And while the museum is surrounded by cameras, he said there were not enough officers to continuously monitor the feeds.

努涅斯表示，警方巡邏主要集中在羅浮宮人潮湧動的中央入口附近，未能覆蓋竊賊的卡車位置。雖然博物館周邊布滿攝像頭，但他指出，缺乏足夠人手持續監控畫面。

Vernon Rapley, a museum security consultant, said that institutions adjacent to streets they do not control, like the Louvre, rely more on quick police reaction.

博物館安保顧問弗農·拉普利表示，像羅浮宮這樣毗鄰無法控制的公共街道的機構，更依賴警方的快速反應。

Labor unions at the Louvre said they had warned that continual renovations, repair work and scaffolding for fundraising events done on or around the museum made it hard for employees to spot suspicious behavior.

羅浮宮工會表示，他們早已警告：博物館內及周邊持續的翻修工程、維修作業以及為籌款活動搭建的腳手架，讓員工難以辨別可疑跡象。

“The more we have exterior people working around the Louvre, the harder it is to differentiate who should be there,” said Julien Dunoyer, a leader with the Louvre unit of the SUD union, who has worked as a security agent there for 21 years.

「越多外部人員在羅浮宮周邊作業，就越難分辨哪些人應該出現在這裡，」SUD工會羅浮宮分部負責人朱利安·杜努瓦耶說。他在此擔任安保人員已有21年。

On Monday, parts of an unfinished report on the museum by France’s national auditor that had been ordered before the theft were leaked to French news outlets. The auditor found that 75% of the Louvre’s Richelieu wing had not been covered by video surveillance and that a third of the rooms in the Denon wing had no surveillance cameras. That wing is where the burglars struck, although officials said the refurbished gallery they targeted did have cameras.

週一，一份案發前法國國家審計署受命撰寫的未完成報告片段被洩漏給了法國媒體。報告指出，羅浮宮黎塞留翼75%的區域未覆蓋監控攝像，德農翼三分之一的展廳沒有監控攝像頭。竊賊闖入的正是德農翼，儘管官方稱他們針對的已翻新展廳確實裝有攝像頭。

The report also criticized delays in updating the museum’s security system.

報告還批評博物館安保系統升級嚴重滯後。

The auditor confirmed the existence of the report to The New York Times but declined to share it.

審計署向《紐約時報》確認該報告存在，但拒絕提供全文。

The Louvre has not publicly addressed the findings. But in an email to staff members after the burglary that a union leader shared with the Times, the head of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, said they could count on her “determination in this hardship.”

羅浮宮尚未公開回應審計發現。但在盜竊案後發給員工的一封由工會領袖分享給《紐約時報》的郵件中，館長勞倫斯·德卡爾表示，員工可以信賴她「在這一艱難時刻的決心」。

“When I took office, I warned of the need to strengthen our security architecture,” des Cars said in the email. She added that police had carried out “detailed studies” at her request and that the recommendations would be put in place. She gave no details. (Many museums are wary of sharing details of security plans, even with some staff, for fear of leaks.)

德卡爾在郵件中寫道：「我上任之初就警告過必須加強安保建設。」她補充說，應其要求，警方已進行「詳細研究」，相關建議將得以落實。她未透露細節。（許多博物館出於洩密風險考慮，甚至對部分員工也不願披露安保計劃。）

Still, labor unions at the museum said technical and staffing issues, particularly among security guards, had gone largely unaddressed for years.

儘管如此，博物館工會表示，技術與人力問題——尤其是安保人員短缺——多年來基本未獲解決。

“It’s the entire surveillance system of the museum that is obsolete today,” said Alexis Fritche, general secretary of the culture section of CFDT, a national labor union. “There is a lack of staff to obviously deal with surveillance, but there is also a lack of staff for evacuation in case of difficulty.”

「如今整個博物館的監控系統已徹底過時，」全國工會CFDT文化部門總書記亞歷克西斯·弗裡切表示，「顯然缺乏監控人力，緊急疏散所需人員也嚴重不足。」

Security staff members at the Louvre were reduced to 856 agents in 2023 from 994 in 2014, according to Dunoyer.

據杜努瓦耶透露，羅浮宮安保人員從2014年的994人削減至2023年的856人。

But it is not clear whether more agents in the Apollo Gallery or even more security cameras would have prevented the theft.

但目前尚不清楚，即使阿波羅畫廊有更多安保或監控攝像頭，是否真能阻止盜竊。

“Once they are inside, it’s already too late,” Dunoyer said.

「一旦他們進入室內，一切為時已晚，」杜努瓦耶說。

When there is an intrusion, the museum’s protocol is to evacuate rooms and usher visitors to safety, “definitely not put yourself in danger’s way by going toward the intruders,” said Sarrah Abdelhedi, an SUD leader who has worked at the Louvre in security for 17 years. That was what guards did once the intruders had entered the gilded hall, according to the Culture Ministry.

博物館的侵入應對流程是疏散展廳、引導遊客至安全區域，「絕不應冒生命危險靠近闖入者，」SUD工會領導人薩拉·阿卜杜勒赫迪說。她在羅浮宮安保崗位工作17年。據文化部稱，安保人員在闖入者進入金碧輝煌的大廳後正是如此執行的。

Still, union representatives said a lack of security agents may have sent a signal of vulnerability to potential criminals.

儘管如此，工會代表表示，安保人力不足可能已向潛在犯罪分子傳遞了「有機可乘」的信號。

“These are weaknesses that can be spotted by people who are looking for opportunities to carry out operations like this,” Dunoyer said.

「這些都是有機會實施此類行動的人能發現的弱點，」杜努瓦耶說。

Once outside, security guards chased away the thieves who were attempting to light their truck on fire, Rachida Dati, France’s culture minister, told French television crews Monday.

法國文化部長拉奇達·達蒂週一告訴法國電視新聞組，安保人員在室外驅趕了試圖對卡車縱火的竊賊。

Security officials at the museum, who are not armed, were so shaken by the brazen heist that they refused to work Monday until they heard from the museum’s director what reinforcements would be put in place, according to Abdelhedi, the union leader.

工會領袖阿卜杜勒赫迪透露，這起大膽盜竊令未配武器的博物館安保人員受到驚嚇，週一拒絕上班，直至館長明確說明將採取何種增援措施。

A spokesperson for the Louvre said the closing was “to allow museum management to discuss the situation with staff.”

羅浮宮發言人表示，閉館是為了「讓管理層與員工討論當前的情況」。

Dati said that at least three security audits since 2022 had been factored into plans to overhaul the Louvre, which were announced by President Emmanuel Macron this year. She said security control rooms were being upgraded and a new central control room was being created.

達蒂表示，今年由馬克宏總統宣布的羅浮宮整體改造計劃，考慮了自2022年以來的至少三次安保審計。她說，安保控制室正在升級，一個新的中央控制室也在建設中。