The “egregious” behavior and misdirection of a property owner who was ordered to pay $6.75 million to street artists for destroying works they put up on a group of dilapidated buildings he owns in Queens has made the judge presiding over the artists’ lawsuit wish he’d ruled differently in the case, according to a scathing ruling issued in the case Wednesday.

Denying motions to set aside the award and hold a new trial in the case, U.S. District Judge Frederic Block of the Eastern District of New York said that at a trial held last year to explore protections for artists’ works housed at the 5Pointz aerosol art gallery in Long Island City, Queens, the judge discovered that property owner Gerald Wolkoff had previously misled about his required timeline for razing the buildings that make up 5Pointz.