Ladies and gentlemen, Jesse has left the building -- but he'll be back.

The official state portrait of former Gov. Ventura and those of former Govs. Elmer L. Andersen and Harold LeVander were removed Wednesday from the State Capitol after officials found they had been defaced with felt markers.

Thin red marks were found on Ventura's white shirt and across Andersen's mouth, and a black mark was discovered above LeVander's lips.

White-gloved curators with the Minnesota Historical Society, which oversees art in the Capitol, took down the three paintings for repairs.

Unless someone saw who drew on the paintings and reports that information, it's unlikely the culprit or culprits will be identified, said Bill Keyes, director of the state's historic sites and museums.

All three paintings hang in the Capitol's ground-floor corridor, which, unlike the upper floors, doesn't have security cameras.

Stan Schmidt — Star Tribune, Star Tribune
A detail of the damage to the Ventura portrait, which included marks from a red felt marker.

Suspects? Keyes figures that it was probably schoolkids who have jammed the Capitol on field trips this week.

"This is a very rare occurrence. ... We look at it as a kind of prank, but nonetheless we take it seriously," he said.

Paintings of each of the 37 men who have served as Minnesota's governor, some going back to the 19th century, hang throughout the Capitol.

Andersen and LeVander were governors in the 1960s, and their paintings date to that era; Ventura's portrait, painted by one of his former professional wrestling tag-team partners, was unveiled with some fanfare in 2003.

Keyes said there are no plans to place the paintings under glass or lock them away. It's important that people are able to view them freely and without interference, he said.

And don't worry, DFLers -- Keyes didn't read anything into the fact that the governors attacked were two Republicans and an Independent.

"I think it's very likely that the individuals [responsible] didn't think about that," he said.

Scott Magnuson, who directs the Senate Information Office and has worked at the Capitol for 30 years, said he couldn't recall any sort of vandalism in the buildings aside from the time in the late 1970s when power line protesters scratched the mahogany desk in the Governor's Reception Room.

"Most people have regard for the institution," he said. "It's very sad, but thankfully it very seldom happens."

Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455