The article highlights several instances of vandalism and destruction caused by tourists at various historical and cultural sites around the world. The incidents include:
* A couple from California carving their initials into the Coliseum in Rome (2015)
* A 15-year-old Chinese boy scribbling his name on a 3,500-year-old image in Luxor Temple, Egypt
* A Chinese tourist kicking a stalagmite in a cave in southwest China, causing it to snap (2017)
* A British man accidentally knocking over three Chinese Qing dynasty vases worth $120,000 at a museum (2006)
* An Australian man attacking Michelangelo's Pietà statue with a hammer at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City (1972)
* A woman knocking over a row of columns at an art installation in Los Angeles, causing $200,000 worth of damage (2017)
* A tourist smashing a priceless historic Italian statue of Hercules (2015)
* Dutch football hooligans destroying a famous fountain in Rome, causing $3 million in damages (2017)
* A 12-year-old boy in Taiwan damaging a painting worth $1.5 million (2015)
* A man punching a hole through Claude Monet's "Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat" painting, valued at $10 million (2012)
These incidents demonstrate the need for tourists to be more mindful and respectful of cultural and historical sites, and for authorities to take measures to prevent such vandalism.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. In 2015, a couple from California carved their initials into a wall of the Coliseum in Rome.
2. The couple was charged with "aggravated damage to a building of historical and artistic interest."
3. A 15-year-old Chinese boy scribbled his name on a 3,500-year-old image of a man holding a spear at Luxor Temple.
4. The boy's parents apologized for his actions.
5. In 2019, a couple was reported to have scribbled their initials on a 400-million-year-old sandstone formation in Illinois.
6. The formation was an important meeting site for Native Americans for around 8,000 years.
7. In 2013, a 55-year-old American man snapped the finger off a 600-year-old statue at a museum in Florence, Italy.
8. The statue was a priceless work of art made by 15th-century sculptor Giovanni d'Ambrogio.
9. In 2014, an Italian man took a selfie with a sculpture known as the "Drunken Satyr" at a museum in Milan, causing the sculpture to lose a limb.
10. The sculpture was a 19th-century copy of an ancient Greek sculpture and was valued at $7-$10,000.
11. In 2016, a man climbed onto a pedestal to take a photo with a statue of the former king Dom Sebastiao in Lisbon, Portugal, causing the statue to fall and shatter.
12. The man was apprehended and the statue was unable to be repaired.
13. In 2017, a young man kicked a stalagmite in a cave in southwest China, causing it to snap.
14. The stalagmite was estimated to be hundreds of thousands of years old.
15. In 2006, a British man accidentally knocked over three Chinese Qing dynasty vases worth around $120,000 while visiting a museum.
16. The man was banned from the museum.
17. In 1972, an Australian man named Laszlo Toth attacked Michelangelo's Pietà statue with a hammer at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City.
18. Toth was not charged with a crime and instead spent time talking to Italian psychiatrists.
19. In 2017, a woman took a selfie at an art installation in Los Angeles, causing a row of columns to fall like dominoes and resulting in $200,000 worth of damage.
20. In 2015, a tourist destroyed a priceless historic Italian statue of Hercules by climbing on top of it and causing it to fall.
21. The statue was considered one of the jewels of the Italian city of Cremona.
22. In 2014, tourists tied so many locks to the Pont des Arts in Paris that part of the bridge collapsed.
23. The cost of repairing the bridge was estimated to be over $1 million.
24. In 2017, 7,000 Dutch fans caused over $3 million in damage to the "Fontana della Barcaccia" fountain in Rome.
25. 23 Dutch fans were arrested.
26. In 2012, a man punched a hole through Claude Monet's "Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat" painting, valued at around $10 million.
27. The man was sentenced to five years in prison.
28. In 2012, a 12-year-old boy accidentally damaged a painting worth over $1.5 million at an exhibition in Taiwan.