French President Emmanuel Macron ​accepted the resignation on Tuesday (February 24, 2026) ‌of the head of Paris’ Louvre ​museum, which has ⁠been grappling with the fallout from a high-profile jewel heist and rolling strikes.

Laurence ‌des Cars tendered her resignation, which Mr. Macron accepted, “praising an ‌act of responsibility at ‌a ⁠time when the world’s largest museum ⁠needs calm and a strong new impetus to successfully carry out major projects ​involving security ‌and modernization”, his office said.

Laurence des Cars has faced intense criticism since burglars made off in October with ‌jewels worth an estimated $102 ​million that are still missing, exposing glaring security gaps at ⁠the world’s most-visited museum.

Strikes over pay and conditions since December have ‌also led to regular closures and added to a list of woes that included two water leaks as well as a massive ticket fraud investigation.

Critics ‌, including the state auditors’ office, have ​questioned the museum’s low spending on security and infrastructure maintenance while ⁠it made lavish purchases of new ⁠artwork, only a quarter of which is open to ‌the public, and spent heavily on post-pandemic relaunch projects.

Two suspects in the brazen daylight heist of some of France’s crown jewels from the Louvre were arrested in Paris on Saturday (October 25, 2025) evening and are being questioned, Le Parisien newspaper reported on Sunday (October 26, 2025), citing sources close to the investigation.

One of the two suspects was about to leave the country and was taken into custody at Charles de Gaulle airport at about 10 p.m. on Saturday (October 25, 2025), the paper said. The other was arrested later in the evening in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb north of Paris.

Paris police were not immediately available for comment.

Thieves stole eight precious pieces worth an estimated $102 million from the Louvre’s collection on October 19, exposing security lapses as they broke into the world’s most-visited museum using a crane to smash an upstairs window during opening hours. They escaped on motorbikes.

News of the robbery reverberated around the world, prompting soul-searching in France over what some regarded as a national humiliation.

According to Le Parisien, the two men are in their thirties and originally from the Seine-Saint-Denis area. They were known to French police, and one of the suspects was about to depart for Algeria, the newspaper said.