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Duchamp's1917 piece—an ordinary white, porcelain urinal that's been called one of the most influential works of modern art—was slightly chipped in the attack at the Pompidou Center in Paris, the museum said. It was removed from the exhibit for repair.

The suspect, a Provence resident whose identity was not released, already vandalized the work in1993—urinating into the piece when it was on display in Nimes, in southern France, police said.

During questioning, the man claimed his hammer attack on Wednesday was a work of performance art that might have pleased Dada artists. The early 20th-century avant-garde movement was the focus of the exhibit that ends Monday,police said.

A 2004 poll of 500 arts figures ranked Fountain as the most influential work of modern art—ahead of Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Andy Warhol's screen prints of Marilyn Monroe and Guernica, Picasso's depiction of war's devastation.

Fountain is estimated at $3.6 million.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press