The Bayeux Tapestry may have to be brought to Britain in the dead of night to avoid the threat of paint-spraying protesters, insiders have said.
The 11th-century embroidery faces a slew of threats including road vibrations and potholes as it heads to Britain for a landmark exhibition later this year.
An Anglo-French team is carefully planning how to transport the medieval cloth to the British Museum for the show this September.
It marks the first time the artwork depicting the Norman conquest of England will leave France.
British Museum chairman George Osborne has called the exhibition "the blockbuster show of our generation".
But one museum insider told The Sunday Times the move could prove "a logistical nightmare".
The journey will likely happen overnight to reduce the risk of disruption from groups like Extinction Rebellion attempting to throw paint at the artefact.
Just Stop Oil has seen its activists jailed in the past for lobbing paint over artworks like Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers.
In total, the 68-metre-long cloth must travel 325 miles from the Bayeux Museum in Normandy to London.
Just Stop Oil has seen its activists jailed in the past for lobbing paint over artworks like Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers
|REUTERS
Bespoke vibration-dampening technology will be used to protect the fragile fabric.
David Musgrove, co-author of The Story of the Bayeux Tapestry and content director of HistoryExtra.com, said: "The risk is obviously getting it onto a lorry and across to the UK.
"They're going to create some vibration-dampening mechanism which means that it will sit in a lorry and it will have a really clever suspension which means that the box itself is as stable as it can be on a road journey."
The agreement requires vibrations to stay below two millimetres per second during the priceless treasure's transit.
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An Anglo-French team is carefully planning how to transport the medieval cloth to the British Museum
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A UK Treasury indemnity of approximately £800 million, backed by taxpayers, will cover the tapestry against damage or theft.
Last autumn, a technical team conducted a "dry run" using a replica embroidery and vibration-measuring equipment.
In September, the real tapestry was removed from the Bayeux Museum as it undergoes refurbishment.
The delicate operation required 100 people and took seven hours to extract the cloth from its display case before folding it.
The artwork was then transported overnight in a truck with a decoy lorry and French police escort.
In September, the real tapestry was removed from the Bayeux Museum as it undergoes refurbishment
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It was taken to a secret storage location, believed to be the Baron Gerard Museum of Art and History, a quarter of a mile away in Bayeux.
Mr Musgrove said: "It has already moved because it had to be taken off display for the museum to be redeveloped, and that's the moment of greatest jeopardy in my mind."
Shirley Ann Brown, a professor of art history at York University, said concerns include protecting the tapestry from temperature and humidity changes, as well as rubbing damage given its fragile state.
The display case at the British Museum must be custom-built for the 68-metre cloth, with temperature and humidity controls, and be bulletproof.
The iconic artwork will travel to the British Museum later this year
| GETTYProf Brown said: "It cannot be absolutely vertical because of the stress placed on the weave but it still has to be easily and comfortable viewed."
French restoration expert Aude Radosevic Mansouri, who assessed the embroidery in 2020, said last year: "When you look at it really up close, you can see right through it. You don't even want to handle it in case it falls apart in your hands."
A spokesman for the British Museum stressed the treasure "has a world-leading conservation and collections management team who are experienced at handling and caring for this type of material".
"The museum is working very closely with conservators and specialists in France and this binational team will ensure that the tapestry is able to travel safely," he added.