A CeF 3 crystal produced during early R&D studies for calorimetry at the CERN Large Hadron Collider was exposed to a 24 GeV/c proton fluence Φ p = (2.78±0.20)×10 13 cm −2 and, after one year of measurements tracking its recovery, to a fluence Φ p = (2.12 ± 0.15) × 10 14 cm −2 . Results on protoninduced damage to the crystal and its spontaneous recovery after both irradiations are presented here, along with some new, complementary data on proton-damage in Lead Tungstate. A comparison with FLUKA Monte Carlo simulation results is performed and a qualitative understanding of high-energy damage mechanism is attempted.