It sounds very much as if Steven Levy’s wife threw his MacBook Air (he’d been lent it for review) into the trash compacter – see Gone, Without a Trace, in Newsweek.

Well, one of Beuys’ Fettecken was disposed of even when it was in full view, rather than hidden in a pile of papers like the MacBook. And another German victim was Gustav Metzger at Tate Modern:

The spokesman said: “The bag was removed the morning before we first opened. It was not put in a crusher but in a skip. It was removed but it was seen that it was damaged. That’s why the artist put another bag in its place.”

He pointed out that Metzger had not actually had to pick up new rubbish to put in his replacement bin liner but had simply found one that had already been filled and discarded. “The bags are taken from where they are found and put in the space,” said the Tate. “He doesn’t manipulate what’s in the bag.”

I think I could help.

Deutsche Fassung bei Spiegel Online.