After jewel heist, water leak damages hundreds of rare works at Louvre Museum in Paris

Just weeks after a brazen jewel heist raised security concerns, the Louvre Museum in Paris on Sunday revealed that several hundred works in its Egyptian department were damaged by a water leak in late November, raising questions on its infrastructure now. “Between 300 and 400 works” were affected by the water leak discovered on 26 November, the museum’s deputy administrator, Francis Steinbock, said, describing them as “Egyptology journals” and “scientific documentation” used by researchers.

The damaged items dated from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and were “extremely useful” but “by no means unique”, Steinbock added.

“No heritage artefacts have been affected by this damage. At this stage, we have no irreparable and definitive losses in these collections,” he said.

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The damage comes after a jewel theft in October in which a gang raided the world’s most-visited art museum in broad daylight and stole jewellery worth $102 million in just seven minutes, leading to a fierce debate over the museum’s ageing infrastructure. Then in November, part of a gallery displaying Greek vases had to be shut after structural weaknesses were detected.

The Louvre said there would be an internal investigation into the November leak, which was caused by the accidental opening of a valve in the heating and ventilation system that led to water seeping through the ceiling of the Mollien wing, where the books were stored.

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The “completely obsolete” system had been shut down for months and was due to be replaced from September 2026, the museum administrator added.

The works will “be dried, sent to a bookbinder to be restored, and then returned to the shelves”, Steinbock said.

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Late last month, the Louvre said it would raise ticket prices for most non-EU visitors, meaning US, British and Chinese tourists, among others, will have to pay €32 to get in.

The museum said the 45% price hike was aimed at boosting annual revenues by up to $23 million to fund structural improvements.