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.

Three piglets that were being deliberately starved as part of a controversial art exhibition have been stolen, according to the artist. Marco Evaristti, a Chilean artist living in Denmark, told The New York Times this week that the piglets were swiped from his exhibit at a former butcher's shop in Copenhagen on Saturday, March 1.