EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — A painstakingly crafted work of art celebrating health and peace was destroyed in seconds at the El Paso Museum of History on Thursday, and museum officials are now trying to identify the person responsible.
The El Paso Museum of History said it is looking for the man who vandalized a medicine mandala display that had been on view for the recent Lunar New Year Celebration.
According to the museum, the medicine mandala was created by world-renowned Tibetan Buddhist monk Venerable Lama Losang Samten, who spent a week crafting the mandala out of sand for El Paso after flying in from Philadelphia last week.
WATCH:
El Paso Museum of History seeks suspect in vandalism of Lunar New Year sand mandala (Credit: El Paso Museum of History via FitFam)
Speaking to KFOX14/CBS4 on Thursday, Quetzaly Segovia, a museum curator for the El Paso Museum of History, said the vandalism was disheartening to see after the downtown celebration over the weekend.
“Unfortunately, this happened, and it was very sad for our community…we worked really hard for something special for our Asian community that celebrates Lunar New Year. This is actually our seventh year hosting the Lunar New Year in downtown El Paso, and we really want to continue this work for our community. You know, this is why we bring these kinds of artists and works to our downtown museums. It’s to bring light and positivity, and creativity to our region and to our museums like other cities,” Segovia said.
She added, “We want to bring these great things, and we just want to continue these great efforts for our institutions, and we just really love what we do, and we’re very, very sad that this has happened.”
According to Segovia, while the museum’s surveillance video does not show the vandalism, it shows the moment the individual is seen entering the area of the display.
“We actually were able to see when the mandala was vandalized, and you can see the individual go behind the table or the place where the mandala is, and he dragged his fingers across the mandala. You can’t see it in the video, but that was the only individual who was in the gallery at that time.”
The museum has since turned to social media in hopes of finding the person responsible, and a police report has been filed.
KFOX14/CBS4 has reached out to the El Paso Police Department for comment and is waiting for a response from police before showing the man’s face to avoid misidentifying the wrong person.
WATCH:
El Paso Museum of History seeks suspect in vandalism of Lunar New Year sand mandala (Credit: El Paso Museum of History via FitFam)
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