The Louvre Museum went under water; Hundreds of valuable documents were damaged

There is no end to Louvre’s misadventures. In the latest blow to the body of the Louvre Museum in Paris, a burst pipe in the library of the Ancient Egyptian Artifacts section drowned hundreds of valuable books and magazines. This incident is the last link in the chain of unfortunate events that made 2025 a “terrible year” for this museum.

The museum authorities found out about this incident on 5 December 1404 (26 November 2025). Frances Steinbock, deputy director general of the Louvre, told AFP that between 300 and 400 works were damaged, including “Egyptological journals” and “scientific documents” used by researchers. These documents, although very useful, are fortunately not unique copies.

These damaged documents are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The ironic point of the story is that the place where the pipe burst is exactly a part of the museum spaces that was supposed to undergo a major renovation in the ventilation and heating system from September 1405 (September 2026).

This flood is not the only recent problem of the Louvre. In November, structural concerns closed part of the Greek Vases Gallery. But the event that shocked the world happened in October.

In one of the most daring heists in decades, a group of thieves broke into France‘s royal jewels department just minutes after the museum reopened. In an operation that lasted less than 8 minutes, they stole 8 pieces of historical jewelry worth approximately 88 million euros ($102 million). This theft was the worst museum theft in the past few decades and the French police have arrested four people in connection with this case.