The $102 million Louvre museum has become marketing gold for the German company that made the furniture hoist used in the heist. The German company Boecker used the Louvre robbery to promote its product, running humorous ads about how well the device worked.
Boecker, which makes the lifting equipment, posted a picture of the mounted truck outside the Louvre with the caption: “When you need to go fast.” The post also stated that the device can carry up to 400 kilograms with a motor that is “quiet as a whisper”.
Thieves stole the machine
Alexander Boecke, the company’s chief executive, told AFP that Louvre thieves had demanded a demonstration of the vehicle last week, but stole the machine during the demonstration.
It happened on October 10, nine days before the robbery. “They removed the customer markings and replaced the license plates,” Boecke said.
After the Louvre robbery, Alexander Boecke said he recognized the hoist as one of their own after the pictures emerged.
He said: “When it became clear that no one was injured in the robbery, we took it with a touch of humour. Boecke said that after seeing the photos, he started thinking about how the company could use the case for publicity.
“Obviously it was an opportunity for us to use the most famous and most visited museum in the world to get a little attention for our society. Of course the crime is absolutely reprehensible, that’s absolutely clear to us.”
Louvre Louvre: How it happened
In Sunday’s heist, thieves disguised as renovation workers parked a truck with an extension ladder under the Apollo museum gallery shortly after it opened.
After climbing a ladder and cutting a glass window, they stole some decorations. They used disc cutters to cut the glass cases in which the jewelry was stored.
The thieves escaped through the same window and fled east, joined by two accomplices waiting on scooters. They left behind a yellow construction-style jacket and several tools, including a disc cutter.
When leaving, they dropped the tiara of the wife of Napoleon III. of the Empress Eugenie, but left with eight other jewels.
The whole operation took only seven minutes.
