A vandal was caught on camera defacing a Picasso painting in a Texas museum that is frantically trying to save the artwork. INSIDE EDITION has the details.
A vandal defaced a painting right in front of a shocked witness who captured the whole thing on his cell phone.
The brazen vandal wore dark glasses and used gold spray-paint to attack artist Pablo Picasso's "Woman in a Red Armchair" before fleeing from the Menil Museum in Houston, Texas. The witness then zeroed in on the painting to check out the damage.
The vandal used a stencil to spray-paint a gold bull and the Spanish word "Conquista," or "conquer," on it.
The cell phone video was just posted on YouTube, along with the vandal's alleged identity, which we are not releasing since he has not been charged.
INSIDE EDITION found the Facebook page of the alleged vandal and discovered he's a young artist who posted a story about the defacing of the Picasso painting. There's also a photo of one of the alleged vandal's own paintings featuring the word "Conquista," just like what was spray painted on the Picasso.
A museum spokesperson told INSIDE EDITION the defaced Picasso painting was immediately rushed to the museum's conservation lab and "the damage is being undone and the prognosis is excellent" that it will be fully restored.
