A half-a-million-dollar artwork which was one of the 130 works on display for the 'Street Noise' art exhibition at Lotte World Mall, a gallery in Seoul, South Korea, has been ‘accidentally’ vandalized by a couple who thought the exhibition was participatory art.

CCTV footage provided by gallery officials showed the young South Korean couple using acrylic paint and a brush that were part of a display near the artwork to splatter dark-green colored blotches to the piece. The exhibition organizers have however come out to explain that the paint cans and brushes used in the creation of the abstract artwork were actually considered to be a part of the piece and thus, displayed in front of the artwork which may have given the couple the wrong impression.

The vandalized artwork was a 240cm by 700cm untitled artwork painted by Paris-based American graffiti artist JonOne, a k a John Andrew Perello, before a live audience in Seoul in 2016, and which is valued at $500,000.

The gallery authorities eventually involved the police who reviewed the CCTV and secured the paint pot and brush to take fingerprints. They tracked down and apprehended the offending couple in the shopping mall where the gallery is located, but ultimately let them go because, according to the head of the exhibition, Kang Wook, the gallery declined to press charges as they believed it was an honest mistake.

“They thought they were allowed to do that as participatory art and made a mistake,” Wook said. “We are currently in discussions with the artist about whether to restore it.”

The gallery has since cordoned off the tarnished artwork by putting a black wire barrier around the display with additional "Do Not Touch" signs explaining that the paint pots and brushes are part of the artwork and not as an invitation for spectators to explore their creativity in graffiti.

In an ironic twist, the news of the impromptu paintwork has prompted a surge in inquiries about the display. Visitors were seen taking pictures in front of the damaged artwork on Friday morning, and the exhibition organizer said the incident has generated increased interest in the art exhibition.

While some visitors were keen to be witnesses to a moment of albeit undesirable art history, others were there to register their displeasure at the accidental van-dal Goghs. One of such visitors, Lee Seon-mi commented that “after seeing the news report, I was curious, so I came earlier than planned. Damaging original artwork is serious wrongdoing. I think it should be restored."

Whew! $500,000 is a huge sum and we hope the artist and the organizers will find a favorable way around this debacle, however, if you wish to acquire moderately priced African abstract art, Aworanka has a comprehensive collection on display. Go ahead and have a virtual art exhibition on the website with no limits and there's no need to warn you that it's not participatory art because what's the worst that can happen? A doodled-on screenshot?!