An apparent militant environmentalist smeared cake on Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” inside the Louvre Museum in Paris — but fortunately the priceless painting was unharmed after Sunday’s stunt.
What are the details?
Visitors said a man disguised himself as an elderly woman in a wheelchair — presumably to get closer to the iconic work of art in an area reserved for those with disabilities — and then stood up and smeared the cream cake over the bulletproof glass protecting the painting, CBS News reported.
When security guards converged upon him, the man — wearing a wig and makeup — threw red roses at their feet, the network said.
Video showed security guards escorting the activist away, but he had his say about the state of the planet amid his 15 seconds of infamy.
“Think about the Earth,” he said in French, according to CBS News. “There are people who are destroying the Earth. Think about it … all artists, think about the Earth — this is why I did this. Think about the planet.”
Others — apparently museum employees — were seen on video cleaning the smeared cake from the glass that covers the painting.
Anything else?
The Louvre issued a statement Monday saying the painting was undamaged, and that the man hid the cake inside his personal belongings, the network said.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said Monday the 36-year-old suspect was detained after the incident and sent to a police psychiatric unit for evaluation, CBS News said, adding that an investigation has been opened on charges of damage of cultural artifacts.
‘Mona Lisa’ smeared with cake by ‘environmental activist’ disguised as granny
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