Te Papa is now considering the future of its Treaty of Waitangi / Tiriti o Waitangi exhibit after the English version text was defaced.
Twelve people were arrested after protest action at the national museum on Monday, and one of the protesters accused of damaging the exhibition is being held in custody.
Showing support for their fellow protester outside the Wellington District Court, the man was remanded in custody until Thursday for his alleged involvement in damaging the display at Te Papa.
"We're not regretting what we did," said fellow protester Haimana Hirini.
The man was one of 12 arrested for spray-painting over the English version of the exhibit, which the group argues was a misleading translation.
"Te Tiriti is the only legal document. The Treaty is not a translation of Te Tiriti," Hirini told Newshub.
And a leading Māori law expert agrees.
"It's representing the idea that you have an English text and a Māori text that are of equal status, I don't think they are of equal status," said Carwyn Jones, an expert in Te Tiriti o Waitangi/the Treaty.
Te Papa rejected Newshub's request for an interview, but said in a statement that it's now reviewing the incident and considering what it means for the future of this display - and how it appears.
In the meantime, the defaced exhibit is open to the public, and the group responsible for the damage wants it to stay like that.
"We did it as an art piece, we believe we've created a piece of art out of something that was there and misleading people," said Hirini.
But the so-called art piece has museum visitors divided.
"[It] honestly breaks my heart every time I see it, I don't think it should stay up personally," one person told Newshub.
"I think Te Papa would be very wise to keep that as part of its history," another visitor said.
"It represents the history of what us Māori went through," a third added.
A sign of the times for some, and an eyesore for others.
