Protester throws cake and roses at the Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa was vandalised on Sunday at the Louvre in Paris. Photo / Twitter

The Mona Lisa has been attacked in a bizarre protest in which a man dressed as a wheelchair-bound woman launched cake at the famous painting.

Leonardo da Vinci's artwork, also known as La Gioconda, was vandalised on Sunday (local time) at the Louvre in Paris.

A man "dressed as an old lady" jumped from a wheelchair and attempted to smash the bulletproof glass the painting is protected by, a witness said.

He then smeared cake on the glass and "threw roses everywhere" before being "tackled" by security and removed from the museum.

The room was packed by onlookers, who managed to capture startling clips of cleaners wiping cream from the shield.

Maybe this is just nuts to me💀but an man dressed as an old lady jumps out of a wheel chair and attempted to smash the bullet proof glass of the Mona Lisa. Then proceeds to smear cake on the glass, and throws roses everywhere all before being tackled by security. 😂??? pic.twitter.com/OFXdx9eWcM

— Lukeee🧃 (@lukeXC2002) May 29, 2022

Fortunately, the painting was unharmed in the strange attack.

The identity of the man and motive for the attack are unknown, but as he was escorted from the room he shouted "think about the Earth".

"There are people who are destroying the Earth, think about it," he said in French, according to Twitter users.

"All the artists tell you, think about the Earth, all artists think about the Earth, that's why I did this. Think about the planet."

Can anybody translate what ole dude was saying as they where escorting him out?😂 pic.twitter.com/Uy2taZ4ZMm

— Lukeee🧃 (@lukeXC2002) May 29, 2022

It's not the first time the Mona Lisa has been attacked. In 2009, a Russian woman threw a ceramic cup at the portrait, reportedly frustrated at having failed to obtain French nationality.

It was the first attack since 1974, when the painting was on display at the Tokyo National Museum and a woman with a disability, so upset by the museum's inaccessibility, attempted to spray red paint on the canvas.

In 1956, the painting was damaged by two attacks: One with acid, and another with a rock – which chipped a speck of pigment from the picture. Those incidents prompted the Louvre to place bulletproof glass around the Mona Lisa.

Indeed, it was a crime that made her legendary when, in August 1911, she was stolen from the walls of the Louvre by Italian handyman Vincenzo Peruggia.

Peruggia was hired by the museum to make protective glass cases for some of its most famous works – including La Gioconda. He hid in a closet at the museum overnight and simply removed the painting from the wall and walked out of the building with the help of an unknowing plumber.

Almost instantly the Mona Lisa became a household name.

After a two-year search, Peruggia was found, arrested and sentenced to seven months in jail – he reportedly thought he would be a national hero for returning the Mona Lisa to Italian soil – and she was restored to the Louvre wall.

Today, the painting is the jewel in the Louvre's crown, attracting millions of visitors each year.

She was created between 1503 and 1519 by Italian Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci and has become the most famous and most replicated painting in the world, immortalised in everything from fashion to pop art, to novels and films including The Da Vinci Code and Mona Lisa Smile.