Police: Man Smashes Bottle Over Security Guard's Head At Metropolitan Museum of Art

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD was on the hunt Monday afternoon for a man accused of attacking a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art after complaining about a crooked painting.

As CBS2's Scott Rapoport reported, police said the a man sporting a long beard and wearing all black went up to the guard at 6:15 p.m. this past Friday to tell him about the painting.

The 46-year-old guard told the man not to touch the artwork and advised him to inform the staff at the information desk, police said.

As the guard turned to walk away, the man smashed a glass bottle on the back of his head and shouted, "Do your job!" according to police.

"Oh, really?" said museum visitor Jonah Diaz. "Wow, that's ridiculous."

"It's very sad and unfortunate," said museum visitor Carrie Pozum. "I mean, this should just be a safe place to go and enjoy the art."

The suspect apparently cut his hand on the broken bottle, leaving a trail of blood through two galleries. Police followed the trail out the building, but were unable to find the suspect.

The victim was treated at a hospital for a cut to his head.

"It's just terrible that that would have happened to somebody who's just here doing their job," said museum visitor Jenny McArdle,

The suspect is described by police as a white male, 20 to 25 years old, standing 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing about 150 pounds.

Late Monday afternoon, the Met Museum released a statement reading: "The safety of our staff and visitors is our number one priority. We are grateful for the professionalism of our security team, and are working in coordination with the NYPD on this incident.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.