Dutch influencer Bart van Genugten, who runs the YouTube channel iGoBart, decided to end his ongoing exhibition early, Sunday, after discovering that visitors had defaced his giant map of Seoul.
The map, which is on an aluminum plate measuring two meters by two meters and weighing about 55 kilograms, was the centerpiece of his exhibition at Domansa, an exhibition space in eastern Seoul's Seongsu-dong.
Surveillance footage shows two Koreans estimated to be in their 20s entered the exhibition space at around 1:30 a.m. early Saturday morning. The front door appears to have been left unlocked and the lights were on. Using Bart's own paints which had been displayed next to the map, they wrote messages in Korean.
The graffiti appears positive, with messages like "I love you oppa (older brother)" and "Oh Sung-min album fighting! Our country's best producer."
The map is known to have originally cost 2 million won to produce, but this number increases by millions more when including the paint and transport costs. When factoring in the added value of the labor and artistic merit, it is hard to estimate its total worth.
When Bart became aware of the damage on Sunday morning, he decided to end the exhibition early.
"I can't leave the map unattended anymore," he said in an online post. "This map represents months of hard work, passion, and personal investment, and to see it damaged like this is devastating. To whoever is responsible, if you're reading this, please come forward."
Bart was present at the exhibition on the final day, and managed to keep an upbeat mood amid visits by many friends, supporters and police investigators throughout the day.
The exhibition documented Bart's journey to visit Seoul's 467 neighborhoods, for his project called "Welcome to My Dong."
It opened on Sept. 9 and was originally set to run until Sept. 23. Visit @iGoBart on YouTube to see Bart's videos, or follow @igobart_ on Instagram.