A viral video depicts the vandalism of the Mona Lisa painting

On Sunday, a viral video of a man disguised as a “old woman” smeared cake all over the Mona Lisa painting at Paris’s famous Louvre museum shocked and stunned the internet.

In the bizarre incident, a man dressed as an elderly lady jumped out of a wheelchair to smear cake on the famous Mona Lisa painting. Netizens have flooded social media with videos and images of the cake cream-stained painting.

To the surprise of museumgoers, the man threw cake at the iconic painting before attempting to break through the bulletproof glass that was meant to protect Leonardo da Vinci’s famous portrait.

Eyewitnesses said the perpetrator, who was sitting in a wheelchair, stood up and walked towards the painting. He threw cake on the painting after failing to smash the display glass, smearing the cream all over the panel of glass.

Before being knocked down by security, the man also sprinkled rose petals on the floor. In the viral video, the lawbreaker can be seen shouting at museum visitors in French. His words were interpreted by the Spanish media as “some people are attempting to destroy the earth, think of the earth!”

A wig was also worn by the man dressed as an elderly woman. He apparently entered the museum in a wheelchair before committing vandalism. The motive for the attack remains unknown, as does how he managed to smuggle a cake into the Louvre museum.

However, there have been previous attacks on the Mona Lisa painting. A vandal once doused the masterpiece with acid, severely damaging the lower part of the painting; as a result, the portrait is now protected behind bulletproof glass.