Milwaukee Public Museum vandalism, exhibits damaged

MILWAUKEE - Police continue to look for a suspect who they say vandalized Milwaukee Public Museum exhibits earlier this month.

The suspect – caught on camera – sprayed an oil-like substance on some popular exhibits, including the popular "Granny" in her Streets of Old Milwaukee rocking chair.

"She’s just a mainstay. She’s always there. She’s dependable. It’s just fun for my kids to come see her," said visitor Danielle True. "It’s very disrespectful. I wish they wouldn’t do something like that."

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Investigators are still trying to figure out how the suspect got into the museum and why she did what she did.

"It’s really unfortunate that someone would come into the museum and do this," said Madeline Anderson, the museum's communications director.

Surveillance shows the suspect on Thursday, March 7 as the museum was closing. The spray was found in exhibits on all three floors. In addition to Granny's face, it was found on the Harley-Davidson in the Streets of Old Milwaukee, on taxidermy collections and on other items.

"We don’t know exactly what the substance was. I think our initial hypothesis is that it might have been some kind of cooking oil," Anderson said. 

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The museum's "Streets Alive" event continues through Saturday, March 16. In the meantime, the museum is still trying to figure out how much damage was done.

"It’s pretty difficult because we do have priceless objects at the museum," said Anderson.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-Tips or P3 Tips.