LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR, LE PARISIEN (France)
PARIS - Highly confidential layouts of the Élysée Palace (the presidential residence), the Interior Ministry and the Paris Police Department have been stolen from a contractor’s car in Paris, the French daily Le Parisien reports.
According to Le Nouvel Observateur, a flash drive containing detailed maps of the three strategically important buildings was in the possession of a contractor working for the company tasked with setting up optic fiber networks, as part of the installation of CCTV in the capital.
As the man was picking up a relative from the Gare du Lyon train station on Sunday, one or more individuals broke into his car, stealing several personal belongings – including the precious flash drive.
On the victim’s own admission, the top-secret maps were not encoded and can therefore be seen by anyone.
An investigation has been launched to determine whether the theft was premeditated -- meanwhile, says Le Nouvel Observateur, the burglars now have access to every detail of every room of three of France's most sensitive governement buildings.
