Louvre Director's Offer to Resign Following Shocking Paris Jewelry Heist Rejected

Laurence des Cars -- the director of Paris' famed Louvre Museum -- revealed she offered to step down following Sunday's shocking heist ... but her offer was denied.

In a press conference Wednesday, des Cars told the French Senate, "I presented my resignation to the Minister of Culture, in responsibility. She refused it."

Des Cars offered her resignation Sunday night, after that morning's burglary. The "responsibility" des Cars referred to was what she considered security flaws that may have allowed for the daylight robbery. Those failures included a catastrophic shortage of cameras outside the monument.

In a span of just 4 minutes, according to French media, masked thieves -- impersonating construction workers -- rode a basket lift up the museum's facade, entered through a window and sped off with more than $100 million worth of jewels ... for one of the highest-profile museum thefts of all time. This unfolded just after the museum opened for the day with visitors already inside.

Des Cars added, "We did not detect the arrival of the thieves soon enough."

Notably, employees went on strike months earlier, warning the museum was understaffed with too few people to monitor too many rooms. Sunday's events would seem to back this up, as the event happened mere steps away from the Mona Lisa.