Museum Guard Damages Painting with Key

PITTSBURGH, Pa.—Timur Serebrykov, a guard at the Carnegie Museum of Art, has been accused of using a key to vandalize a painting, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The oil on canvas, which is from Vija Celmins's "Night Sky" series and is part of the Carnegie's permanent collection, depicts a black backdrop with hundreds of white stars. It is currently on view as part of the 2008 Carnegie International exhibition, "Life on Mars," and its worth is estimated at $1.2 million.

The police affidavit describes the damage as a "large vertical gouge" down the middle of the work, leaving it irreparable. Serebrykov was caught in the act on surveillance tape, and when arrested, said, "I didn't like the painting...I'm sorry." He faces a charge of institutional vandalism in Allegheny County Commons Plea Court on July 29, according to the Associated Press.