The politician, who sits in parliament for the ultra-religious party Niki, was arrested but has been released. At the same time, the museum has closed to clean up after the tumult.
Nikolaos Papadopoulos broke into the museum, smashed the glass panes protecting the artworks and attempted to steal two of them, which he claims are "offensive".
He was arrested on the spot and has been questioned, but was later released. Both before and after the incident, he has attacked the artworks as disgusting and blasphemous on social media.
Regarding the vandalism he is accused of, he claims that the glass broke when he wanted to move the paintings out of public view. The museum states that Papadopoulos and another person threw the paintings on the floor with the intention of destroying them.
The Greek Ministry of Culture says in a statement that it is working to "protect the country's cultural and artistic heritage" and that it would never act to censor art.
The current exhibition, "The Allure of the Bizarre", collects modern Greek art that parodies religious icons and themes and is meant to be seen as a complement to a parallel exhibition of etchings by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya.
