Drunken Tourist Arrested After Climbing Statue and Hearing 'Snap' in Arm

Belgian Statue Registered as 'Cultural Heritage' Damaged
Restoration Cost Estimated at About 25 Million Won

An intoxicated tourist was arrested by the police after climbing on a statue registered as a cultural heritage site in Belgium and damaging part of it.

On the 14th (local time), foreign media including IrishCentral reported that a heavily drunk Irish tourist forcibly climbed on a statue in front of the Brussels Stock Exchange in Belgium and damaged part of the statue. The exchange building, called 'Bourse,' recently reopened after a three-year restoration project. However, the tourist damaged the statue just one day after the exchange reopened.

In the video capturing the incident, a man who appears to be the tourist climbed on a statue shaped like a lion. As he was coming down from the lion statue, he grabbed onto the arm of a nearby human statue, and the arm of the statue, unable to bear the weight, broke off. The broken arm of the statue fell to the ground.

An intoxicated Irish tourist damaged a statue in Belgium.
[Image source=YouTube]

The police who were dispatched after receiving the report immediately arrested the tourist who damaged the statue. Nel Vandevenet, who was in charge of the exchange restoration work, said, "The repair must be entrusted to skilled craftsmen, so it will be costly," and added, "The statue is registered as a cultural heritage."

The exchange officials stated, "We want to receive direct compensation from the tourist who damaged the statue." The restoration cost of the statue is estimated at ?17,600 (about 25 million KRW). The exchange plans to demand between €5,000 and €7,000 (about 7 million to 10 million KRW) from the tourist.

This is not the first time that cultural heritage has been damaged by tourists. On the 6th, in Florence, Italy, a German tourist climbed on the Neptune Fountain statue, made in the 16th century, to take a commemorative photo and damaged it.

Moreover, on the 3rd of last month, two other German tourists caused controversy after they shattered a 150-year-old statue at an Italian villa while trying to take commemorative photos and fled. They caused the accident as they posed by hugging the stone statue and fell. The damaged statue was valued at $218,000 (about 283 million KRW), but the group left the villa without saying a word.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.