The Louvre was forced to close its doors Wednesday after workers walked off the job, complaining that the world’s most-visited museum is plagued with gangs of pickpockets.
More than 100 museum employees stopped working to protest raids by organized gangs which they said were growing in number and becoming “more aggressive,” targeting both visitors and staff, The Guardian reports.
The Louvre said in a statement that pickpocketing is a growing problem despite efforts to curb thefts by museum and Paris officials.
Disappointed tourists gathered outside the museum Wednesday afternoon.
“We’ve been cheated,” 16-year-old, Mariam Kamel, a student from the International School in Bellevue, Wash., who had planned to see the museum on a school trip, told Associated Press.
The Louvre would normally draw 30,000 a day at this time of year. It is scheduled to reopen on Thursday, The Guardian reports.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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