Visitors to the Colorado state capitol building can wander down a hall and gaze at portraits of the presidents of the United States.
They're all there: Washington, Lincoln, and more recently, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and ... Vladimir Putin?
An unknown prankster apparently is to blame for placing a portrait of the Russian dictator near the space dedicated to where a painting of the actual president, Donald Trump, would go.
Someone leading a tour through the area noticed the painting and removed it Thursday, according to the Denver Post.
Democratic state Sen. Steve Fenberg managed to tweet a photo of the painting before it was taken down.
Trump has been in office for 18 months, but his portrait has not yet been painted for the space, Britain's The Guardian reported. Why?
Because the paintings are done through donations to the Colorado Citizens for Culture.
They cost about $10,000 each to commission. Until Thursday, when Putin's painting showed up, Trump's portrait had drawn exactly $0.
After word got out about the fake portrait, the effort to immortalize Trump on the capitol wall is up to $45, according to CNN.
Portraits for Bush Jr. and Obama took about four months to get done after they were sworn in, the Post reported.
The Denver Post, CNN and the Guardian contributed to this report.
(c)2018 The Dallas Morning News
