Liberty Leading the People by Delacroix defaced at museum in northern France

By Michael J.W. Stickings

One of the world's most famous paintings, Liberty Leading the People (La Liberté guidant le peuple) by the great French romantic artist Eugène Delacroix, has been vandalized by a young woman with a marker at a museum in northern France: 

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.

A report in Le Figaro newspaper claims the woman wrote "AE911" near the bottom of the canvas which is alleged by unnamed sources quoted in the French press to be a reference to a 9/11 conspiracy theory.

Whatever she wrote, and for whatever reason she did it, I consider this a crime against humanity.