Water leak in Louvre damages hundreds of books in latest disaster for crisis-hit museum

Hundreds of antique books have been damaged by a water leak in the Louvre, just weeks after a gang of masked thieves broke into the museum in Paris and stole priceless jewellery.

An estimated 400 books were damaged in the Egyptian antiquities department following the leak last month, underscoring fears over the museum’s dilapidated infrastructure.

La Tribune de l’Art reported that the department had been requesting funding from the museum’s deputy administrator, Francis Steinbock, for years in order to protect the books from pipes, which were in poor condition.

Mr Steinbock told BFM TV on Sunday that the water pipe leak affected one of the three rooms in the library of the Egyptian antiquities department.

He said the museum had identified between 300 and 400 works, but “the count is ongoing”, adding the books lost were “those consulted by Egyptologists, but no precious books”. 

He said there had so far been no definitive losses or irreparable damage to the works, described as “Egyptology journals” and “scientific documentation” from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

The problem had been known for years and repairs had been scheduled for September 2026, he said. The works are now set to be dried and sent to a bookbinder to be restored. 

The damage has again highlighted the deteriorating state of the world’s most visited museum after several employees’ offices and one of the public galleries had to close last month due to structural fragility. 

A report published in October by France’s public audit body, the Cour des Comptes, said the museum had been unable to update its infrastructure due to excessive spending on artwork.

The report followed a series of security failings that were brought to light after the daring jewellery heist in October. 

Using grinders and a freight lift, the thieves managed to break into the Apollo Gallery and leave in less than eight minutes, escaping with an estimated €88m (£76m) worth of stolen items. 

The robbery is believed to have been carried out by four people, all of whom have now been arrested. 

The haul is still yet to be recovered and includes a diamond-and-emerald necklace Napoleon gave to Empress Marie-Louise, jewels tied to 19th-century queens Marie-Amalie and Hortense, and a pearl-and-diamond tiara belonging to Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie.

The emerald-set imperial crown of Empress Eugénie, which contains more than 1,300 diamonds, was later found outside the museum.