The new Louvre at Lens has been hit by a vandal. A young woman walked up to the huge painting by Delacroix of Liberty Leading the People that stands at the end of the spectacular display of thousands of years of art, and scrawled 'AE911' on the canvas in indelible black marker pen.
It's not yet known why she did this and what the marking stands for, but the French press have speculated that it stands for Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, a group that believes that the 2001 collapse of the Twin Towers in New York was not the result of the impact alone from the aircraft that slammed into the buildings.
The Louvre is temporarily shut while the investigations are going on. But it is hoped firstly that the damage is superficial, after all nothing was cut or torn, and secondly that the new museum will re-open very soon.
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Image: Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix © Louvre Museum, Paris