A lawyer attempted to throw what appeared to be a shoe at India’s Chief Justice B.R. Gavai in the Supreme Court on Monday, reportedly over remarks Gavai made about the Hindu god Vishnu.

The judge had recently joked that a petitioner seeking to replace a damaged statue should “ask the deity himself,” a comment some considered disrespectful.

Security intervened before the object—believed to be either a shoe or a paper roll—was thrown, and Gavai calmly ordered proceedings to continue.

The attacker shouted a slogan defending Hinduism as he was escorted out, NBC News has reported.

The Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association condemned the act as a violation of legal decorum, while India’s solicitor general blamed misinformation on social media for provoking the incident.