A 36-year-old individual was detained and placed in psychiatric care following an act of vandalism at the Louvre Museum in Paris, where the Mona Lisa was smeared with cake as part of a protest against artists allegedly neglecting environmental concerns, prosecutors confirmed Monday.
The incident occurred on Sunday, though the Louvre declined to comment on the event, which was captured on mobile devices and shared widely online. The museum’s iconic Leonardo da Vinci painting remained unscathed due to its protective bulletproof glass casing, which has shielded the artwork since a 1956 incident involving a rock attack that damaged the portrait’s left elbow.
A social media user identified as Lukeee shared video footage showing a museum employee cleaning the glass and a man in white being escorted by security. The individual, who spoke in French, stated: "There are people who are destroying the Earth… All artists, think about the Earth. That’s why I did this. Think of the planet."
The Paris prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into "an attempt to vandalise a cultural work." The Mona Lisa’s current reinforced case, installed in 2005 to regulate temperature and humidity, has prevented further damage since a 2009 incident where a Russian visitor threw an empty teacup that caused minor scratches.
The Louvre, the world’s largest museum, houses over 400,000 artworks and typically welcomes 10 million annual visitors prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
