Portraits of controversy: Trump and Merz appear beside Mona Lisa

Two residents of Cologne, Ilgar Aliyev and his friend, managed to smuggle portraits of Friedrich Merz and Donald Trump into the Louvre in Paris. The paintings were placed near the famous Mona Lisa. The entire action was recorded and published on YouTube.

The preparations for this unusual action were carefully planned. The men bought frames for the paintings in Cologne, onto which they stuck double-sided tape. They then travelled by train to Paris, where in the Louvre, despite the presence of security, they managed to place the portraits on the wall.

The portraits were hidden under clothes, and once inside the museum, they were taken out in the bathroom and carried in bags to the exhibition hall.

There, near the Mona Lisa, they found a free spot on the wall and stuck the paintings. The video shows two security guards walking by at that moment, noticing nothing suspicious.

After placing the portraits, Aliyev and his friend quickly left the museum without encountering any obstacles. Outside, they learnt from their cameraman that security had started looking for them outside the building as well.

The motives behind the men's actions remain unknown. Neither they nor the Louvre representatives responded to questions posed by "BILD." However, the action has sparked considerable interest on social media.

The Louvre is home to one of the most diverse and extensive art collections in the world. The museum houses works from ancient Egypt, through ancient Greece, to contemporary art. The Louvre's collection includes over 380,000 works of art, of which approximately 35,000 are on permanent display.

One of the Louvre's most famous works is Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, which attracts millions of tourists annually.

Other highly valued exhibits include the Venus de Milo, the Volunteer from Chartres, as well as numerous paintings, sculptures, and artefacts from Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Middle East.