The artist told CNN the incident left him feeling "humiliated."
"I felt ashamed, so deeply sad to see all these years of work and research broken," he said. "For two days visitors came to meet, to ask me: 'But why did you do that?' But it was not my choice."
Simon said UNESCO told him the underwear was the result of a "mistake made by one employee."
A UNESCO spokesman apologized for the incident.
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"This was due to an unfortunate misunderstanding. Our entire work and mandate is in favor of freedom of creation," the spokesman said.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
