LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Four people were arrested at London’s Tower of London after they threw food at a display case containing the Imperial State Crown, police said on Saturday, leading to a temporary closure of part of the historic building housing the Crown Jewels.

An organization called Take Back Power, which describes itself as a civil resistance group, posted footage of the incident on social media and said two of its members had smothered the display case with apple crumble and custard.

London police said in a statement that four protesters were detained following the reports of criminal damage to the display case shortly before 1000 GMT.

“They have been taken into custody. The Jewel House has been closed to the public while the police investigation continues.” the statement said.

The Imperial State Crown is worn by King Charles on some official occasions, such as the State Opening of Parliament. He also wore it on his return to Buckingham Palace after his coronation in Westminster Abbey in 2023.

More than three million people visit the 1,000-year-old fortress every year, with the famous Crown Jewels – made up of crowns, orbs, sceptres and other regalia – being one of the main draws.

Historic Royal Palaces, which manages the Tower, said its staff responded quickly to the incident. The Jewel House was briefly closed while the police carried out their investigation.

“The Crown Jewels have not been damaged,” it said in a statement.

Take Back Power said its protest was to highlight its demands for the government to tax the super rich.

(Reporting by Michael HoldenEditing by Bernadette Baum)

PARIS (AP) — The Paris prosecutor said Saturday two new suspects were handed preliminary charges for their alleged involvement in the crown jewels heist at the Louvre museum, three days after they were arrested by police as part of the sweeping investigation.

Laure Beccuau, the prosecutor, said in a statement that a 37-year-old suspect was charged with theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy. The other, a 38-year-old woman, is accused of being an accomplice. They were both incarcerated.

They both denied involvement, the prosecutor said.

The lawyer for the woman, Adrien Sorrentino, told reporters his client is “devastated” because she disputes the accusations.

“She does not understand how she is implicated in any of the elements she is accused of,” he said.

Five people were arrested by police on Wednesday in connection with the case, including one tied by DNA. Three have been released without charges, Beccuau said.

Two earlier suspects, men aged 34 and 39 from Aubervilliers, north of Paris, were charged this week with theft by an organized gang and criminal conspiracy.

Beccuau said both gave “minimalist” statements and “partially admitted” their involvement. The two are believed to be the men who forced their way into the Apollo Gallery. One was stopped at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport with a one-way ticket to Algeria; his DNA matched a scooter used in the getaway.

Neither names nor extensive biographical details about those arrested have been made public.

Information about investigations is meant to be secret under French law, to avoid compromising police work and to ensure victims’ right to privacy, a policy known as “secret d’instruction.″ Only the prosecutor can speak publicly about developments, and violators can be prosecuted.

In a separate case, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said six people were arrested on Thursday soon after a robbery at a gold refining laboratory in the city of Lyon during which thieves used explosives. The loot, which was estimated to be worth 12 million euros ($13.9 million) has been recovered, Nuñez said on X.

PARIS (AP) — French police acknowledged major gaps in the Louvre’s defenses on Wednesday — turning this month’s dazzling daylight theft into a national reckoning over how France protects its treasures.

Paris Police Chief Patrice Faure told Senate lawmakers that aging systems and slow-moving fixes left weak seams in the world’s most-visited museum.

“A technological step has not been taken,” he said, noting parts of the video network are even still analog, producing lower-quality images that are slow to share in real time.

A long-promised revamp — a $93 million project requiring roughly 60 kilometers (37 miles) of new cabling — “will not be finished before 2029–2030,” he said.

Faure also disclosed that the Louvre’s authorization to operate its security cameras quietly expired in July and wasn’t renewed — a paperwork lapse that some see as a symbol of broader negligence after thieves forced a window to the Apollo Gallery, cut into cases with power tools and fled with eight pieces of the French crown jewels within minutes while tourists were inside.

“Officers arrived extremely fast,” Faure said, but he added the lag occurred earlier in the chain — from first detection, to museum security, to the emergency line, to police command.

Faure and his team said the first alert to police came not from the Louvre’s alarms but from a cyclist outside who dialed the emergency line after seeing helmeted men with a basket lift.

Officials say two suspects were arrested over the weekend, including one stopped at Charles-de-Gaulle Airport as he tried to leave France. Under French rules for organized theft, custody can run up to 96 hours; that limit expires late Wednesday, when prosecutors must charge the suspects, release them, or seek a judge’s extension. The Louvre values the eight stolen pieces at about $102 million. None has been confirmed recovered.

The theft has also exposed an insurance blind spot: officials say the jewels were not privately insured. The French state self-insures its national museums, because premiums for covering priceless heritage are astronomically high — meaning the Louvre will receive no payout for the loss. The financial blow, like the cultural wound, is total.

Faure pushed back on quick fixes. He rejected calls for a permanent police post inside the palace-museum, warning it would set an unworkable precedent and do little against fast, mobile crews. “I am firmly opposed,” he said. “The issue is not a guard at a door; it is speeding the chain of alert.”

He urged lawmakers to authorize tools currently off-limits: AI-based anomaly detection and object tracking (not facial recognition) to flag suspicious movements and follow scooters or gear across city cameras in real time.

The Oct. 19 heist was swift and simple. In the morning rush, thieves reached the jewel gallery near streetside windows, cut through reinforced cases and vanished in minutes. Former bank robber David Desclos told the AP the operation was textbook and vulnerabilities were glaringly obvious in the layout of the gallery.

Culture Minister Rachida Dati, under pressure, has stayed defensive — refusing the Louvre director’s resignation and insisting alarms worked while acknowledging “security gaps did exist.” She has kept details to a minimum, citing ongoing investigations.

The reckoning lands at a museum already under strain. In June, the Louvre shut in a spontaneous staff strike — including security agents — over unmanageable crowds, chronic understaffing and “untenable” conditions. Unions say mass tourism and construction pinch points create blind spots, a vulnerability underscored by thieves who rolled a basket lift to the Seine-facing façade and reached a hall displaying the crown jewels.

Faure said police will now track surveillance-permit deadlines across institutions to prevent repeats of the July lapse. But he stressed the larger fix is disruptive and slow: ripping out and rebuilding core systems while the palace stays open, and updating the law so police can act on suspicious movement in real time — before a scooter disappears into Paris traffic and diamonds into history.

Experts fear the stolen pieces may already be broken down and stones recut to erase their past — a prospect that adds urgency to France’s debate over how it guards what the world comes to see.