A thumb was broken off a priceless Roman statue at the British Museum by a catering worker. The worker accidentally broke the famous Townley Venus on December 10 last year after bending down beneath it and striking her head on the statue as she rose. The museum arranged for the thumb to be glued back on while the room was closed to visitors. Trustees were told of the incident in March. However, publicly available minutes of the meeting stated only that Jonathan Williams, the deputy director, “informed the Board of repairable damage to an object”, The Art Newspaper reported.

Source: The Times October 26, 2016 23:43 UTC