Officials in Maastricht, the Netherlands, have reported a major setback in efforts to identify skeletal remains that may belong to Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan, the French musketeer who inspired Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers". The remains were found near the altar of St Peter and Paul Church in February, and their location was considered promising because contemporary records state that d'Artagnan, who died during a siege near Maastricht on 25 June 1673, was buried on consecrated ground nearby. The matter matters because improper excavation work has now irreversibly destroyed key archaeological evidence needed to confirm the identification.

The remains came to light after the church floor collapsed, revealing a burial possibly linked to d'Artagnan. On 2 July, the Municipality of Maastricht said that work carried out before the official excavation on 13 March had not been documented according to standard procedures, resulting in the irreversible loss of significant information. By the time official archaeologists began, only about half the skeleton remained in its original position and roughly a third of the skull was missing, with various bones collected without documentation. Wim Dijkman, the retired archaeologist who led the initial dig, was arrested in May after refusing to hand the bones over to authorities.