He was refused a meeting with the Pope.
The American tourist who visited the Vatican Museum broke two ancient Roman statues. According to CNN, this happened after a tourist said he wanted to meet the Pope and heard back that it was impossible.
The incident happened at the Chiaramonti Museum, part of the Vatican Museums, which contains about 1000 ancient statues. The museum itself calls itself “one of the best collections of Roman busts in the world”.
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Two of these busts were currently destroyed by a tourist in a fit of rage. It is reported that he threw one statue to the floor when he heard about the refusal, and dropped the second one when he started to run away from the museum workers.
The statues were taken to workshops for damage assessment and further restoration. Their age is estimated at 2,000 years, but the museum noted that they are secondary works of art, not famous. According to La Repubblica, one of the busts was left without a nose.
The tourist was detained and handed over to the police.
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CNN notes that this is not the first case in recent times when tourists have caused injuries ancient monuments in Rome. So, in July, a tourist from Canada tried to write her name on the Colosseum. At the same time, American tourists threw scooters down the Spanish Steps, which led to chipping off parts of the monument. And a tourist from Saudi Arabia drove through them in his Maserati.
