A man of 20 years was arrested this Saturday by tearing the box the Bust of a Woman, Pablo Picasso, this past Saturday at the Tate Modern (London). The young man has been accused of criminal damage for damaging a work valued at 20 million pounds (23.5 million euros), as confirmed by the british police.

The museum of contemporary art has removed the work of the Spanish artist, dated in 1944, in order to assess the damage after having been, apparently, torn apart by that individual, that was "quickly stopped" after the attack, according to the Tate Modern. The attacker, a native of north London, announced that it will deny the charge for "criminal damage", during a hearing held Monday before the Magistrates ' Court Camberwell, in the british capital.

Since his arrest, the defendant has remained under police custody awaiting a preliminary hearing will be held on the 30th of January. As revealed by a spokesman of the Tate Modern, which has not given details about the extent of what happened, the work affected displays to the lover of the artist, Dora Maar, and was painted in Paris in may 1944, during the last months of the Nazi occupation. "The work is now with our conservation team to be evaluated by experts," said the spokesman.

For its part, the London Metropolitan Police (Met) has informed this Tuesday in a press release that the agents investigating the "incident of criminal damage happened at the Tate Modern on Saturday, 28 December", which has been accused by a male.