The Mona Lisa at Louvre was attacked by a climate change protestor with cake on Sunday, though the work was unscathed.
The vandalism occurred on Sunday at the Louvre Museum in Paris, when it was bustling with visitors. A short video posted on the Internet show a man dressed as an old woman with a wig of white hair and seated in a wheelchair. Suddenly, the man stands up and throws a cake at the Mona Lisa. In the video, the man could also be heard saying “There are people who are destroying the Earth. All artists, think about the Earth. That’s why I did this. Think of the planet” in French.
The 36-year old man was immediately apprehended by the security, arrested, and placed under psychiatric care. However, others have pointed out that the man’s action was a stunt to protest against climate change. The museum said that they have filed a complaint against the perpetrator, while also adding “The museum salutes the professionalism of its agents who reacted immediately during this incident.”
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The Mona Lisa is one of the most famous and iconic works of art in the world. As such, it has also been subjected to various acts of vandalism and theft over the years. It was vandalised by a woman in 1974 with spray paint, while a Russian woman in 2009 threw a teacup at it. Due to the attraction it garners, the Mona Lisa is always encased in bullet-proof glass which also saved it from the current act of vandalism.
