Michael Asher, Untitled, 1991 / sledgehammer

On the evening of January 13, 2015, a masked individual on a “wrecking spree” took a sledgehammer to this granite sculpture while it was on public display at UC San Diego’s campus.

During his spree, the individual also damaged the campus’s Chancellor Building and smashed a junction box on the roof to disable several security cameras. He also destroyed eight individual cameras. The perpetrator then spray painted “You can paint over me, you can catch me, you can expel me, I will still be here,” on a wall in gold paint. He also sprayed “private property” on the wall of the Geisel Library.

Asher’s sculpture was destroyed beyond repair; the individual remains at large.