Moment Irish tourist damages statue outside Brussels Stock Exchange the day after it was unveiled following £15,000 restoration
Moment Irish tourist damages statue outside Brussels Stock Exchange the day after it was unveiled following a £15,000 restoration
- The building and sculpture had just been restored in a £77 million project
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An Irishman has been arrested in Brussels after tearing down part of a recently restored statue outside the city’s Stock Exchange.
The city center building, known as the Bourse, reopened the day before after a three-year restoration project costing £77 million.
Shocking video of the incident on Sunday shows the man, who appears to be drunk, climbing the statue, which is called ‘The Hand with a Torch’.
Amazed crowds watched as he climbed onto the sculpture, which depicts a lion and a man holding a torch and is one of two flanking the entrance.
As he goes to dismount the work of art, he grabs it to steady himself, breaking off the torch and what appears to be part of the arm as he jumps to the ground.
Shocking video of Sunday’s incident shows the man, who appears to be drunk, climbing the statue
Amazed crowds watched as he climbed onto the sculpture, which depicts a lion and a man holding a torch
When the Irishman tried to dismount the work of art, he grabbed it to steady himself and broke off the statue’s arm.
The man was reportedly intercepted by police at a nearby fast food restaurant shortly afterwards and arrested.
The Stock Exchange now wants to recover the thousands of compensation payments directly from the man, Belgian media report.
Nel Vandevennet, who led the restoration project, told the outlet VRT NWS: ‘The repairs will cost a lot of money because the work will have to be done by real professionals.
‘It is a protected heritage and there will be follow-up by the agency for monuments and landscapes of the Brussels Region.’
Photos show the erosion the stone statue suffered before it was restored. Now it will have to be worked on again.
Photos show the statue in a state of disrepair before it was restored. Now it will have to be worked on again
The reopening of the monument in the Belgian city is highly anticipated, with guided tours as tourists are welcomed back
“We would like to carry out the repair quickly, but that will certainly take several weeks or even months,” Vandevennet said.
‘The whole building has only just been restored to its former glory, including the two lions which were in a bad condition.
‘We thought the sculptures would be more respected. We just think it’s very sad that this happened.”
The reopening of the monument in the Belgian city is highly anticipated, with guided tours as tourists are welcomed back.
It’s not the only attraction that has suffered damage from tourists this summer; in June, the Colosseum in Rome was targeted by a holidaymaker.
Ivan Dimitrov, 27, who also goes by the name Ivan Hawkins, was captured on camera by American holidaymaker Ryan Lutz carving the words ‘Ivan and Hayley 23’ into the brickwork with a set of keys.
In July, a 17-year-old Swiss girl was also caught hacking into the walls of the ancient amphitheater.