8 museum officials charged to court over broken 3,300-year old King Tut mask

King Tutankhamun's 3,300 year-old mask which sits at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo suffered a broken beard in 2014. For this, eight museum officials have been charged to court.

The eight people who will be charged are six restorers and two former heads of the restoration section at the museum, and they're accused of negligence and violation of the professional rules of the workplace.

According to CNN, there have been differing accounts of how the mask's blue-and-gold braided beard broke off, including a museum conservator's account that the beard detached when the mask accidentally fell during cleaning.

The conservator adds that the beard was quickly reattached with a strong adhesive, but the glue left a gap between the face and the beard, others however assert the beard loosened with age.

Museum officials however dismissed the claims when they emerged, saying reports of the mask's damage were unfounded.

Following investigations into the case last year, prosecutors say the workers did not follow protocol.

"The (museum) officials dealt recklessly with a piece of an artifact that is 3,300 years old, produced by one of the oldest civilizations in the world," the administrative prosecution said in a statement.

King Tut's elaborate burial mask was discovered in his tomb in 1922, and is a major tourist attraction drawing visitors from around the world.