Woman arrested for defacing famous Louvre painting with marker pen

The woman (28) wrote an inscription in marker on the French romantic artist's most recognisable painting La Liberté guidant le peuple or Liberty Leading the People.

The accused wrote AE911 near the bottom of the canvas of La Liberté guidant le peuple or Liberty Leading the People. The painting, which is supposed to be the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty, was loaned to the museum for a year. Pic/AFP

She was intercepted by a guard and another visitor before being handed over to police. A statement from the Louvre-Lens, an extension of the famous Paris-based Louvre which only opened last December, where the incident took place, said the painting "could be easily cleaned" and is being examined by a restorer.

The woman wrote AE911 near the bottom of the canvas which is alleged by unnamed sources to be a reference to a 9/11 conspiracy theory. Before France switched to the Euro Delacroix's painting featured on the 100 franc banknote. Liberty Leading the People is on loan to Louvre-Lens for a year.

The work, which depicts a bare-chested woman holding the French flag during the July Revolution of 1830, is thought to have inspired the Statue of Liberty. It is the latest in a series of high profile defacements of public art. In December Wlodzimierz Umaniec was jailed for two years for vandalising a painting by Mark Rothko worth £9 million (Rs 65 crore)in the name of his yellowist movement at the Tate Modern gallery, London.