Melvin "Pete" Mark 1926-2017

[RJNorton]

Bill, I tried to find out about this. Here is an article that speculates on how some fabric may have been removed.

"Johnson says the unthinkable happened at another famous museum along the way, as the chair was kept in a storage closet

From what we understand, people who worked at the Smithsonian probably, custodians or people like that, used it as kind of a break area," Johnson says. He says this likely happened around the end of the 19th century, and that they'd sit in the chair, got lots of hair grease on it and might have even taken off pieces to keep as relics."

http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/archive/278846-story