Tourists Charged With Damaging Ancient Artifacts and Historical Sites

Consequently, expensive art pieces have been destroyed due to sheer carelessness and, in some cases, a casual disregard for authority. Let’s look at some specific individuals that damaged such items and what became of them afterward. 

After moving around the gallery for a while, a particular painting caught his attention from afar—Paolo Porpora’s masterpiece called “Flowers.” Just a few feet away from the painting, the young boy stumbled and fell, punching a hole in the canvas of the expensive piece. Luckily, the art piece was insured.

In 2012, Andrew Shannon was admitted like any average visitor on a random morning in late June. But the narrative changed suddenly when something out of the normal happened. Shannon punched the Monet painting, leaving a deep gash in the canvas. He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to five years imprisonment for the vandalism.  

In 2008, a Finnish tourist visiting the island decided to go home with a souvenir. He chipped off the ear of one of the human-like Moai statues. Consequently, the tourist was slammed with a $17,000 fine and banished from the island for three years. 

One of the rooms got the most traffic, so much so that a mirror and pumpkin piece used for the display got damaged by a visitor trying to get a perfect picture. A similar pumpkin piece was auctioned for $800,000 in 2015.

The site was converted into a museum in 1946. However, some visitors to the facility have been reported to deface some of the bunks that prisoners once used. 

However, the large number of tourists welcomed annually at the Colosseum has drawbacks. For example, some visitors have been found leaving graffiti and their initials on the ruin site. In 2015, two Americans were each fined $20,000 for a similar offense. 

A sculptural clock by James Borden was put on display at the American National Clock and Watch Museum. Of course, the timepiece had a “Do Not Touch” sign next to it, but a 2016 visitor decided to make an effort to make it tell the right time. Unfortunately, the clock fell and broke, but the entire affair was caught on security footage. 

In 2017, a family visiting the museum destroyed one of its historical pieces—an 800-year-old coffin. The family had decided to place their young child on the sandstone coffin when the stand went out of place, and a considerable portion of the artifact broke. 

One of Picasso’s pieces, “The Actor,” is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Unfortunately, in 2010, a woman attending an art class at the museum stumbled and fell into the 100 million-dollar painting. Luckily, the piece was successfully repaired.

In 2014, two men filmed themselves pushing over one of the Goblins and posted the video on social media. They were charged to court, sentenced to a year of probation, and required to pay some fines. 

In 2014, a parapet of the bridge collapsed under the weight of the locks attached to it. Local authorities have started a campaign to discourage tourists from continuing with this tradition. 

During the visit, the guest tripped on an untied shoelace, stumbled down a flight of stairs, and toppled over a series of vases arranged closely together. The broken vases were estimated to have been worth $120,000.

In 2013, an American tourist gave the statue’s raised hand a high five. Sadly, the gesture ended up breaking the statue’s pinky finger.

However, authorities were displeased when a 15-year-old boy scribbled “Ding Jinhao was here” on an Egyptian artifact at the Luxor Temple in 2003. The defaced artifact was 3500 years old.