Museum ends Shia LaBeouf art project, citing safety concerns

New York City's Museum of the Moving Image has closed a performance art project involving Shia LaBeouf, citing "serious public safety hazards."

The project He will not divide us had the actor and others chanting the phrase in front of a live streaming camera since Donald Trump's first day as president three weeks ago.

He and two collaborators had said they intended to do it around the clock for four years.

The museum said Friday that the installation outside the museum had become "a flashpoint for violence and was disrupted from its original intent."

• Shia LaBeouf arrested after He Will Not Divide Us participatory art scuffle

Since opening, the installation "there have been dozens of threats of violence and numerous arrests, such that police felt compelled to be stationed outside the installation 24 hours a day, seven days a week," the museum statement said.

It added that the piece had created "a serious and ongoing public safety hazard for the museum, its visitors, staff, local residents and businesses."

Still, the museum concluded that it was "proud to have launched this engaging and thought-provoking digital art installation, which was experienced by millions of online viewers worldwide. Until public safety concerns overrode the intent of the installation, He Will Not Divide Us generated an important conversation allowing interaction among people from many backgrounds and with different viewpoints."

LaBeouf was arrested last month after an altercation.

The project's website said the museum had "abandoned the project." It added: "The artists, however, have not."