He rips off one of the figure’s arms – and flees: drunken tourist destroys statue in Brussels

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It is a venerable building in the style of the great Roman temples, the Stock Exchange in Brussels. No wonder the city decided to renovate the building – for 90 million euros and over a period of three years! Now the building finally shines in its former glory.

But the joy doesn’t last long. As the Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad reports, the monument was destroyed again just one day after its reopening. From a drunk Irish tourist.

Eyewitnesses filmed

On Sunday evening, the Irishman climbed onto one of the two impressive lion statues that flank the entrance to the fair, which was built in 1873. When he went to get out again, he held the arm of a torchbearer figure until the arm suddenly broke.

Eyewitnesses filmed the drunk man’s embarrassing action. The video shows the man staring at the broken arm in shock for a moment – and then simply running away. According to the Belgian newspaper, police were able to arrest the clumsy vandal a short time later in a nearby fast food restaurant.

For the head of the renovation project, Nel Vandevennet, the whole thing is very annoying, he told Flandernews. “The repairs will cost a lot of money because the work will have to be carried out by traditional professionals,” says Vandevennet. ‘The building is a historical monument. We thought the sculptures would get more respect.” (chs)

Source: Blick