A closed society of Alpine villagers is at the centre of an art theft scandal which threatens the reputation of the world's oldest auction house. The uniformed, self-governing group of porters called "Les Savoyards" – recruited from a handful of villages in the French Alps – has monopolised all removal and ushering duties at the prestigious Drouot auction house in Paris for 150 years. Eight of them now stand accused of systematically pilfering objects ranging from antique furniture, to diamonds, to paintings by Gustave Courbet and Marc Chagall.