After a robbery that occurred on Sunday October 12, the Museum of President Jacques Chirac in Sarran (Corrèze) was the victim of a second burglary a few hours later. The museum was the victim of a theft during the night of Monday October 13 to Tuesday October 14. It was the museum director who discovered the disappearance of several objects on Tuesday morning.
The first robbery occurred Sunday morning around 10 a.m. Four individuals armed with a shotgun and bladed weapons burst into the museum, while around ten visitors were there. Unable to break the protective windows, they took the contents of the cash register and the watches and jewelry of the two employees present before fleeing. Two suspects were arrested at Issoudun station, and two others found hiding in the woods and on a farm. All four were taken into custody.
The second burglary took place during the night from Monday to Tuesday. The museum alarm went off, but in the absence of guards, the theft was not noticed until the next morning. Watches and jewelry were stolen with an estimated value of nearly a million euros. No additional information was released by the police or museum management. According to a source close to the investigation cited by The Parisian, “it’s quite strange, we can think that the sponsors are potentially the same, and that a very particular object which could not have been stolen on Sunday interests them”. Two separate investigations were nevertheless opened.
Inaugurated in 2000 by Jacques Chirac, the museum brings together diplomatic gifts received by the president during his two terms, as well as personal effects. The collection includes some 5,000 objects, including a chess board given by Nelson Mandela and cowboy boots given by Bill Clinton. An extension was inaugurated in 2006 to accommodate diplomatic gifts from other presidents of the Fifth Republic.
Located in the countryside, the museum had already been the target of a burglary in 2011, during which a yellow gold falcon encrusted with 1,400 precious stones, offered by Saudi Arabia, was stolen. The work, estimated at 152,000 euros, has never been found. At the time, the vice-president of the general council of Corrèze declared: “They knew what item they wanted”.
