Police have arrested a man for allegedly spray-painting a portrait of Queen Elizabeth on display at Westminster Abbey.
Tim Haries, 41, appeared in a London court Friday to face charges of criminal damage of more than $7,800. He did not enter a plea and was released on conditional bail until his next hearing later this month.
Haries allegedly defaced the portrait during a lunchtime visit to the esteemed church.
“Until work can be done to remedy the damage it will — very regrettably — not be possible to have the painting on public view,” an Abbey official said in a statement.
Artist Ralph Heimans created the official portrait for the queen’s diamond jubilee celebration last year. The 9-by-11-foot portrait, which had only been on display for a few weeks, portrays an imagined scene of the modern-day queen standing at the spot where her coronation took place when she was 27 years old.
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