Louvre museum installs security bars on balcony used in October's heist

PARIS, Dec 23 (Reuters) - France's Louvre museum on Tuesday installed security bars on the balcony that burglars used to break in and steal some of the crown jewels.

Four people broke into the world's most visited museum on October 19 and escaped with jewels worth an estimated $102 million, exposing glaring security gaps and revealing its deteriorating state.

They parked a movers' lift outside the museum, jumped on the balcony of the Apollo gallery, smashed a window, cracked open display cases with angle grinders and fled on the back of scooters driven by accomplices in a heist lasting less than 7 minutes.

On Tuesday, a crane lifted the security grille into place to seal the glass door leading to the balcony.

"The Louvre is learning all the lessons from the theft of October 19 and is continuing its transformation and the strengthening of its security architecture," the museum said in a post on X.

It also said a mobile police squad was now present at the roundabout in front of the iconic glass pyramid, and 100 more cameras would be deployed around the museum next year.

Police have identified eight suspects in connection with the heist, though the jewels are still missing.

The break-in raised awkward questions about security at the Louvre, which is home to priceless artworks such as the Mona Lisa.

Louvre officials have admitted there was inadequate security camera coverage of the outside walls of the museum and no coverage of the balcony involved in the break-in.

The heist was one of several woes to hit the museum in recent weeks: another gallery, adjacent to the Apollo, was closed because of structural weakness, a water leak damaged books at the Egyptian antiquities department and the museum was partly closed for several days after its staff went on strike.

(Reporting by Noemie Olive and Inti Landauro, Editing by Alison Williams)