The iconic painting of Mona Lisa was smeared with cake by a climate change activist who disguised himself as an old woman.
As reported by Marca, the man disguised himself as an elderly woman in a wheelchair before jumping up and throwing cake on the painting, shocking onlookers.
The man, who wore a wig, first approached the painting and tried to destroy the display case. When that didn't work, he threw the cake onto the canvas and spread it over the glass panel that protects the painting before security tackled and escorted him out of the Louvre Museum in Paris, where the artwork is being displayed.
'Think of the Earth'
Video footage of the incident went viral on social media on Sunday. The clip show the cake smeared across the glass the Mona Lisa sits behind. Another video shows the perpetrator addressing the visitors in French as he is taken by security.
Citing a Spanish media outlet, Pledge Times reported that among other things, the man shouted: "some people are trying to destroy the earth, think of the earth!"
Not the First Attack on the Mona Lisa
Fortunately, the painting, which was created between 1503 and 1519 by Leonardo da Vinci, was unaffected of the safety glass. The Mona Lisa portrait is one of the best-known pieces of artwork in the world, estimated to be worth over $1 billion.
This is not the first time the Mona Lisa has been targeted by vandals. Attacks and attempted thefts of the Mona Lisa to raise awareness for particular causes have been made throughout history including acid, rocks and a teacup being thrown at the painting.
In 2009, A Russian tourist threw a cup of tea at the painting in the summer of 2009. In 1974, a disabled woman upset with the lack of access ramps at the museum sprayed red paint at the painting while it was on display at the Tokyo National Museum.
In 1956, the lower part of the masterpiece was severely damaged when a vandal doused the painting with acid. Due to this incident, the Mona Lisa was kept behind bulletproof glass.
