A group of German tourists have been described as “imbeciles” after they damaged a valuable statue in Italy.
The group of 17 tourists were renting a villa in Viggiu, which is in the northern Italian region of Lombardy.
In the incident, caught on CCTV, two of the tourists climbed up onto the valuable 150 year old artwork.
Two of the group wrapped their arms around the “Domina” sculpture and another pushed it with a stick.
It crashed to the ground, leaving the property’s manager to report the group to the police, although they have reportedly since left Italy.
The property manager, Bruno Golferini, told an Italian news station: “When we realised, it was too late.
“The boys did not respect the ban on entering the fountain and were filmed by video surveillance cameras while two of them embraced the statue, dropping it and destroying it, while four of their comrades shot videos with their cell phones.”
The manager said the statue would be hard to repair due to additional damage caused to the fountain’s tiles.
The damaged “Domina” statue is by the artist Enrico Butti and is valued at 200,000 euros (£173,000).
Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister, said the group were “imbeciles” instead of “influencers”.
Francesca Caruso, culture councillor for the Lombardy region, said: “Those who damage the artistic and cultural heritage must pay a steep price.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
