The Louvre heist that occurred in October has seemingly inspired a new string of museum-related break-ins.
The popular St. Louis attraction, The City Museum was recently broken into after several people were caught on security cameras. The group of five men allegedly entered the museum doors after hours, breaking doors and reportedly stole merchandize from the museum’s gift shop. It is unclear as to what prompted the break-in and how much damage was sustained. Alarm systems were triggered, but the group managed to leave before law enforcement arrived, KSDK News reports.
The damage was repaired before the museum opened the next day.
Meanwhile, just four days before the Louvre heist occurred, an off-site storage facility for the Oakland Museum of California was broken into, marking one of the largest art heists in the city’s history, The LA Times reports. Over 1,000 artifacts was stolen from the facility, including Native American baskets, laptops, photographs, carved ivory tusks and jewelry. Museum workers were reportedly not working at the facility at the time of the robbery.
Unlike the break-in at The City Museum, no alarms were triggered during the robbery, indicating that a person with insider knowledge may be involved. According to the LA Times, the Oakland Police Department is currently working with the FBI’s Art Crime Team to retrieve missing items.
Mackenna Moralez is the associate editor of the facilities market and the host of the Facilities in Focus podcast.
