Culture Minister Rachida Dati has said that alarms worked during the robbery but acknowledged “security gaps."

The thieves who stole France’s crown jewels have been told they will receive lighter sentences if they hand themselves in and return the stolen goods.

Authorities said three of the four alleged members of the “commando” team, as French media have dubbed the robbers, are now in custody.

Days after eight pieces of the French crown jewels were stolen from the Louvre, a former bank robber who once toured the now-infamous Apollo Gallery for a Louvre podcast says he warned a museum official of weaknesses in security.

The Louvre has transferred some of its most precious jewels to the Bank of France, according to French radio RTL, after an audacious daylight heist last week exposed the famed museum's security vulnerability.