PARIS – A water leak damaged hundreds of books in the Louvre’s Egyptian antiquities section last month, highlighting the dilapidated state of the world’s most visited museum, just weeks after a daring jewelry theft exposed security flaws.
The specialized website The Tribune de l’Art reported that around 400 rare books were affectedand blamed the poor condition of the pipes. The department had been seeking ways to protect the collection from such risks for some time without success.
The deputy administrator of the Louvre, Francis Capricornhe said on Sunday BFM TV that the water leak affected one of the three rooms in the library of the Egyptian antiquities department.
“We have identified between 300 and 400 works, the count is ongoing”the official said, adding that the books were “consulted by Egyptologists, but not valuable books.”
He acknowledged the problem had been known for years and said repairs were planned for September 2026.
“The Robbery of the Century”
The attack on the Louvre occurred in the early hours of October 19 and lasted only a few minutes. The goal was that Apollo Gallerywhere they are exhibited valuable French crown jewels. According to security images a The four-man squad arrived at the museum aboard a truck equipped with a cherry picker and parked it in the blind spot of the outside cameras. From there, they raised the platform to a side window, previously considered one of the building’s least secure entrances.
Two of the thieves climbed down silently, broke the window and broke into the living room. Once inside, they used High speed angle grinder to remove several historical pieces from their tank display cases. The noise of the tools was drowned out by nightly maintenance work in a nearby pavilion. In less than four minutesthey loaded the loot – estimated 88 million euros ($102 million)but invaluable to heritage – and brought back to the platform.
Meanwhile, the other two members of the group remained outside and coordinated the escape. After leaving the truck a few blocks away, they spread out scooter, without visible patents, which meant they quickly got lost in the northern suburbs of Paris. However, the operation then forced extensive police operations in the region None of the jewelry has been recovered so far.
The researchers found out DNA traces in the scene that allowed to identify two of the thieves who entered the museum: Ayed G.arrested while trying to board a ship to Algeria, and Abdoulaye N. The analysis also led to the arrest of Slimane K.who is suspected of driving one of the motorcycles used in the escape.
However, the research still aims to answer two key questions: the Whereabouts of the jewelry? and the possible existence of a previous order. The complete lack of references to the pieces fuels the hypothesis that They could have been delivered immediately to third parties or even taken out of the country.
About The Author
