A controversial artist who planned to allow three piglets to starve as part of an exhibition to raise awareness of the mass meat production processes has had to close the show after the animals were stolen.

Three starving piglets were taken from a former butcher’s warehouse, according to the Copenhagen police. The artist said he wanted to wake up society about animal mistreatment.

Marco Evaristti’s provocative exhibition in Copenhagen was designed to protest Denmark’s pork industry. But then there was a twist — and an act of sabotage.