Frenchwoman 'raped' artwork with forbidden kiss: curator A French museum curator on Tuesday accused a Frenchwoman of "raping" a two-million-euro artwork by US artist Cy Twombly, by planting a lipstick-red kiss on its pristine white canvas. Cambodian-born Sam Rindy, 30, was arrested and faces prosecution for criminal damage after allegedly kissing the painting last week, leaving a lip-shaped stain on its otherwise immaculate surface. The young woman, herself an artist, says she was overcome by the work's power. "I found the painting even more beautiful afterwards," she said. But Eric Mezil, who curated the exhibition of the US painter's works in the southern French city of Avignon, told AFP: "This is vandalism, a rape, she has no idea what she has done." "She talks about love, but this is rape. She needs to understand what an artist's intellectual property means," added Mezil, who said Twombly was "devastated" by the incident. "This woman vandalised the work in a kind of performance... There is very little chance we will be able to restore it." "Lipstick contains fat and chemicals and red is the most violent colour: this red is indelible," he said. The untitled work three metres by two (roughly nine feet by six), is valued at two million euros (2.8 million dollars). It has been removed from the exhibition, "Blooming", which runs until September 30, and taken to an expert for assessment. Mezil said he has received messages of support from several US museums and the Stedelijk museum in Amsterdam which has had to deal with similar incidents. (Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. )