"Drunken Attacker Strikes Peru Heritage Site 6-7 Times with Blunt Object"

Struck the Cusco Stone Wall Multiple Times with a Blunt Object
Suspect is a Peruvian Man... Faces Up to Six Years in Prison

One of the representative heritage sites of the Inca civilization in Peru, the '12-Angled Stone,' was damaged due to the reckless behavior of a local man.

On the 21st (local time), the Peruvian Ministry of Culture and the tourism police announced that they had arrested and were investigating Gabriel Mariano Roisi Malani (30) on charges of damaging the 12-Angled Stone on Hatunrumiyoc Street in Cusco by striking it with a blunt object. Malani, a Peruvian national, is accused of hitting the stone wall of the former Inca emperor's palace 6 to 7 times with a blunt object around 0:41 a.m. on the 18th, causing partial damage. Local investigative authorities stated that the suspect appeared to be intoxicated at the time of the crime and explained that the crime he committed could result in a sentence of up to six years. In Peru, damaging heritage sites is punishable by three to six years in prison.

On the 18th (local time), an official from the Peruvian Ministry of Culture is inspecting the damage to the 12-sided stone. Photo by AFP Yonhap News.

The 12-Angled Stone is a cultural heritage that showcases the exquisite craftsmanship of the people during the Inca civilization era in Peru and is a major tourist attraction in Cusco. As its name suggests, the stone has 12 vertices and at first glance looks like an ordinary rock embedded in a stone wall along with other stones. However, Peruvian authorities explained that the stone is characterized by its precise harmony with the other stones to the extent that the wall itself could collapse without it.

Some interpretations suggest that this stone holds religious or symbolic significance from that era. The stone wall featuring the 12-Angled Stone is known to have been constructed in the 14th century. According to Andina News Agency in Peru, citing scholars' research, the weight of the 12-Angled Stone is approximately 6 tons.

The Inca civilization began around the 12th century near Lake Titicaca, located between present-day Peru and Bolivia. This civilization unified and conquered several cultures that had developed over centuries centered in the Peruvian region, including the Chav?n, Moche, Nazca, and Tiwanaku civilizations. The Inca Empire they built, which once flourished centered on Cusco, meaning 'navel,' eventually fell in 1533 due to civil war and Spanish invasion.

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