French museums are facing a rising wave of burglaries, leading the government to introduce a new security plan with 33 measures aimed at protecting cultural heritage. The plan includes mapping 3,127 vulnerable sites and conducting five-year audits to assess and improve security. A specialized unit, the Security, Safety, and Audit Mission of the Ministry of Culture (MISA), will be strengthened to carry out these inspections. A 30 million euro security fund, originally established by former Justice Minister Rachida Dati, will continue to support 482 priority projects in 2026. However, the overall budget for the plan and cybersecurity measures recommended by experts have not been disclosed. Recent high-profile thefts have underscored the urgency of the situation. Just days before the plan was announced, the Vix gold torque—a 2,500-year-old artifact—was stolen from the Chatillonnet country museum. This was followed by the daylight robbery of eight priceless Crown jewels from the Louvre, the world's most visited museum. Additionally, the Museum of Natural History suffered a theft of precious gold nuggets, including one weighing five kilograms and over a billion years old. These incidents have raised serious concerns about the safety of France’s cultural treasures. Gildas Illien, deputy director of collections at the Museum of Natural History, expressed alarm over the possibility that some stolen artifacts could be melted down for their precious metals. The recent spate of thefts has also affected the Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, where four paintings were stolen. Two of the stolen artworks were later found in the museum’s garden, but the theft still caused over nine million euros in damages. The great-great-granddaughter of painter Auguste Renoir, who founded the museum, expressed deep disappointment over the loss, highlighting the emotional and historical impact of such crimes.