Some visitors to the Louvre got into the world-famous Paris museum free on Wednesday after a partial strike by attendants temporarily blocked ticket booths.

The workers, who are responsible for guarding the Mona Lisa and other famous works, later moved away from the booths and officials returned to charging for admission.

Tourists wait outside the entrance of the Louvre Museum in Paris in January 2007. The museum is considered the world's most visited museum.
(Jacques Brinon/Associated Press)

According to a statement from the Louvre, the striking workers represent less than five per cent of the museum's 1,100 guards. They are demanding a pay raise and have been on strike since Friday, the Louvre said.

The union representing the striking attendants said colleagues at the Musée d'Orsay, Versailles Palace and other French establishments have also stopped working to protest their working conditions and recent staff reductions.

The striking attendants claim that guarding the Mona Lisa in particular is frustrating because of aggressive crowds. The job can sometimes become dangerous, especially on Sundays when the Louvre has free admission, the union said.

Louvre attendants are responsible for keeping the massive crowds moving quickly past the Mona Lisaand other famous artworks, preventing visitors from taking photos of the famed canvas and fielding queries about the artworks.

A former royal palace, the Louvre is one of France's most popular tourist attractions and considered the world's most visited museum (with more than eight million visitors in 2006).

The museum's popularity was further boosted when author Dan Brown set a prominent portion of his bestseller The Da Vinci Code at the Louvre, which also allowed the subsequent film to be shot in its halls.

With files from the Associated Press