Christopher Wool painting worth millions is destroyed by vandal in Aspen art gallery

In a bizarre act of vandalism earlier this week a man wearing a hat, sunglasses and one blue glove entered an art gallery in Aspen, Colorado and slashed two holes in a $3 million (NZ$4 million) painting.

Surveillance footage shows that the unknown man walked into the Opera Gallery, bypassed other valuable works from artists like Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall and stopped in front of the contemporary Christopher Wool painting.

He then pulled a knife or razor from his pocket and quickly slashed the painting twice before running out, the Daily Mail reports.

The work is priced at US$2.95 million and simply called Untitled 2014. Wool's artwork is known to sell for huge sums and one was recently sold at auction for $26.4 million.

Gregory Lahmi, the owner of the gallery near Aspen Mountain, told The Aspen Times that he couldn't believe the painting had been destroyed.

"It's crazy," Lahmi said. "First of all, I'm shocked for the work of the artist. It's ugly to do that to [the painting]."

The motive for the act is hazy as well. Wool is not known as a particularly controversial artist; his work has an abstract feel and often features words and bold, dark colours.

"He's collected by the most important collectors in the world," Lahmi said. "Wool is an artist I respect the most."

Aspen Police Detective Jeff Fain is also baffled by the strange crime.

"On it's face, it's extremely suspicious," Fain told The Aspen Times. "There has to be a reason someone would want to destroy this painting."

One aspect of the video, for example, highlights that the unknown man clearly came prepared to vandalise the work. Before entering the gallery, he wedged a thin block of wood in the door frame to stop it from fully closing.

He looked cautious only to touch the door and the wood with his gloved hand.

Fain believes the block of wood may have been used to prop the door in case an emergency alarm locked it - a security technique sometimes used in jewellery stores.

"That makes me believe this was well-thought-out," Fain said.

Adding to the suspicious behaviour, in the weeks leading up to the crime, the gallery received three calls from a blocked number asking if there were any pieces by Wool or Andy Warhol.

Though the man declined to give his name, he last called on April 26 to say he would be in Aspen that week and to check if the Wool painting was still there.