A bomb threat was sent to the Louvre, the museum and French police have both confirmed. Written in English and submitted via the museum’s online contact form, the threat stated: “We are committed to blowing up the Mona Lisa and many other masterpieces. Just a warning: 100kg of C4 does a lot of damage.”
Upon receiving the threat, which was sent at 3:47 a.m. on Sunday, March 17, the Louvre had a security agent from France’s Ministry of Culture do a thorough search of the building but nothing was found, according to Le Figaro.
Mysteriously, the menacing missive was signed “Founding Fathers of Confederation,” a term that usually refers to the 36 men that attended multiple conferences in 1860 that united colonies of British North America to become Canada.
Two environmental activists from the collective “Riposte Alimentaire” hurled soup at Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa at the Louvre museum in Paris on January 28, 2024. Photo: David Cantiniaux/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images.
In October 2023, the Louvre and the Palais of Versailles were both evacuated in October 2023 after receiving bomb threats. Searches of both sites found nothing suspicious and they were reopened to the public the following day.
“The safety of the museum and our visitors is priority number 1,” said a spokesperson for the Louvre. “We have high standards in this area. This type of alert is handled according to a very precise protocol, which we do not wish to share for reasons of confidentiality.” An investigation into the incident is ongoing.
The Mona Lisa was recently targeted by protestors from the climate activist group Riposte Alimentaire in January, but luckily they hurled pumpkin soup rather than explosives. The precious painting hangs safely behind bulletproof glass and was unharmed by the attack.
As one of the world’s most famous masterpieces, however, it has been subject to various high profile assaults over the years. In 1956 alone one vandal threw acid at the Leonardo da Vinci portrait and another threw a rock with enough force to break the protective glass and remove a tiny bit of pigment.