At the beginning of July I received an email from the museum in Bellinzona where I have two works exhibited at Museum Villa Dei Cedri. The piece I.XI.XIV in the museum gardens had been vandalized overnight; all three red marble pieces damaged by unknown perpetrators resulting in scratches on every visible surface.
The museum garden is open to the public from early in the morning till 8pm when the concierge closes the three entrance gates. During the day there is no museum staff in the garden nor are there other means of security. The vandals were not caught in the act nor were they found afterwards leaving us wondering who has done this.
Arrangements were made for me to come to Switzerland and restore the piece mid-July. As we were able to travel freely between countries at the time I decided to connect pleasure with business and ask my grandmother and father to join me.
I spent three full days restoring the marble. I removed the protective synthetic coating by machine. Then I sanded the surface to the level where no scratches were visible. In the end a new protective layer was applied resulting in a renewed smooth surface.