NPR: Vandal, Possibly Drunk, Punches Hole in Monet

Vandal, Possibly Drunk, Punches Hole in Monet

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The black square marks the four-inch-long rip in "The Argenteuil Bridge."

MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP/Getty Images

A Claude Monet painting, "The Argenteuil Bridge," survived two world wars and generations of viewing relatively unscathed, until Sunday. That's when a group of four men and a woman broke into the Musee d'Orsay in Paris and wandered around drunkenly among the priceless artworks before one of them stuck a fist through the 1874 impressionist masterpiece.

From the NYT:

The break-in is an embarrassment for the museum and also points up the vulnerability of some of the main institutions and monuments in France.

In August, another Monet was stolen from a museum in Nice.

Yesterday's vandalism happened during the annual "White Night" arts and music festival. The five vandals got away.

Laura Conaway

5:40 AM ET | 10- 8-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

its sad and funny all at the same time.

Sent by pinksta | 2:48 PM ET | 10-08-2007

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