What was supposed to be a moment of pride for aspiring artists to showcase their own works turned into a nightmare for students at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, when many of their pieces were deliberately vandalized.

According to Qianjiang Evening News, multiple exhibits on display at this year’s graduation exhibition had either been stolen or destroyed as of Friday, when the show concluded.

Stone Carving Fish by Tan Xiong on display at the graduation exhibition of China Academy of Art. /Qianjiang Evening News Photo

Tan Xiong, a graduate from the school of Public Art, is one student lamenting the loss of his masterpiece, as a white marble fish he sculpted as part of his Stone Carving Fish exhibit, went missing just one day after the exhibition officially began last Friday.

The white marble fish that was stolen at the graduation exhibition of China Academy of Art. /Qianjiang Evening News Photo

“I was really disappointed,” Tan told the Qianjiang Evening News. “I can't understand why the visitors took the exhibits away.”

A woman intended but failed to steal the mantis shrimp artwork./Qianjiang Evening News Photo

Last Sunday, one of Tan’s classmates spotted a woman attempting but failing to steal a carved mantis shrimp at the campus exhibition hall.

Another piece of art consisting of 1,000 paraffin blocks in the colors of the rainbow was also defaced, with some of the blocks being removed or knocked down by visitors.

The paraffin blocks on display at the exhibition. /Qianjiang Evening News Photo 

The exhibit after having been defaced by visitors. /Qianjiang Evening News Photo 

Kuang Bifeng, author of the block complex, said she was shocked at sight of pictures showing the vandalism of her work. Kuang further noted that a classmate of hers was accused of "lacking in morality” after urging a mother to control her child who had damaged part of the complex.

The artwork was subsequently restored. /Qianjiang Evening News Photo 

“Luckily I had prepared 200 spare blocks in case of such a scenario,” Kuang said. After successfully restoring her exhibit to its original state, Kuang later added four “No Touching” signs around the wax cube

Standing wheel design by Zhang Xian. /Qianjiang Evening News Photo 

However, even signs warning visitors not to touch the exhibits weren't enough in some cases. Zhang Xian, designer of a single bicycle wheel rotating clockwise, said that someone had deliberately knocked it over, while another man had pulled the wheel in the wrong direction, despite several signs warning him not to do so.

Pink cloth cubes were left with footprints. /Qianjiang Evening News Photo 

Pink cloth cubes were left with footprints. /Qianjiang Evening News Photo 

The wax block and the standing wheel are just a few of many installations to have been defaced. An exhibit consisting of several pink cloth cube designs was left with footprints and other marks, and an interactive hand-shaped artwork was dirtied from having so many visitors touch it.

A hand-shaped art design was tarnished. /Qianjiang Evening News Photo 

The disastrous scene at the exhibition has stirred up widespread condemnation online, after photos capturing the defaced items were posted on Weibo.

Artwork damaged by visitors at the exhibition. /Qianjiang Evening News Photo 

“These designs are the culmination of the students’ four years of hard study. How could the visitors take them away like that?” commented @diyiyandeyizhongren on Weibo, adding that the exhibition site should be regulated more tightly to prevent similar sabotage from occurring again.

Artwork damaged by visitors at the exhibition. /Qianjiang Evening News Photo

LEGO sculpture of Nick Wilde, an anthropomorphic fox from the Disney movie Zootopia. /Photo from Weibo user

This case has evoked memories of similar exhibitions that have been defaced or destroyed by careless visitors. In May last year, a four-year-old accidentally knocked down and smashed a LEGO replica of a character from the Disney movie Zootopia at an exhibition in Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province. The accidental destruction took place during the same month that two boys were caught on camera shattering a delicate art installation at the Shanghai Museum of Glass.

The sculpture was smashed into pieces by a four-year-old child. /Photo from Weibo user