Nguyen Dynasty relics are continuously violated: How to plug the 'loopholes'?

Recently, Nguyen Dynasty relics in Hue City have been frequently subjected to encroachment, from small acts of vandalism to serious incidents, severely affecting the image of the national cultural heritage. This raises questions about the protection of relics and antiquities...

Images that make many people feel sorry

In May 2023, the Thuong Thanh walking street on the Hue flagpole (the citadel flagpole) was covered with graffiti, causing outrage among locals and tourists, seriously affecting the ancient beauty of the relic. The graffiti mostly occurred at night, the reason is said to be due to the thin security force, making it difficult to manage.

Hue Flag Tower was vandalized in early May 2023

PHOTO: LE HOAI NHAN

In early January 2025, the tomb of Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat, a national relic recognized since 1998, was violated and robbed by criminals. The scene showed that the criminals were likely digging to search for gold, silver and burial objects. Although this tomb was guarded by a few security guards from the Hue Monuments Conservation Center and the front of the tomb was locked with a sturdy iron gate, it still did not prevent the criminals from violating it.

At that time, Mr. Hoang Viet Trung, Director of the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, said that the act of digging up graves in Hue had appeared 40-50 years ago, and was a serious violation of the law, not only violating graves but also destroying relics. After the incident, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center directed the security department to coordinate with the police to investigate.

The most shocking incident was recently, at 11:55 on May 24, a man with abnormal behavior entered the area displaying the Nguyen Dynasty throne at Thai Hoa Palace, shouted and broke the front left armrest of the throne. At the time of the incident, there were 2 security guards at Thai Hoa Palace but they had to approach from a distance, reminding him to prevent him from continuing to destroy other artifacts and requesting reinforcements. At 12:10 on the same day, the authorities were able to control the vandal. At the time of taking the statement, the vandal showed signs of mental disorder, screaming, talking nonsense...

Scene of Lord Nguyen Phuc Khoat's tomb being stolen by bad guys

PHOTO: LE HOAI NHAN

Many people who followed the incident were upset, saying that in order to protect the treasures from outside influences, a tempered glass frame should be made around and above them. In cases where visitors can easily access them, only replicas should be displayed, while national treasures must be strictly protected. There are suggestions that all responsible people should be disciplined…

After the incident of the king's throne being violated, the Hue Monuments Conservation Center brought the treasure back to the warehouse and brought the restored artifacts to display at Thai Hoa Palace to serve tourists. The center affirmed that this was an "extremely rare incident" and had many solutions to ensure security in the heritage site, such as increasing the installation of surveillance cameras, developing regulations for assigning security guards, and having mobile units regularly inspect the relic sites. The Hue City Police Department's Investigation Police Department also detained the vandal to investigate the act of intentionally damaging the national treasure.

"Develop a better protection plan"

The consecutive incidents at Nguyen Dynasty relics show that, despite efforts and the number of security forces protecting the Hue ancient capital relic complex reaching more than 400 people, the protection work still has many "loopholes" that need to be drastically overcome, control sensitive areas and increase on-duty and monitoring forces.

National treasure: Nguyen King's throne (before being violated)

PHOTO: LE HOAI NHAN

On May 26, inspecting the work of protecting relics and national treasures and artifacts at the Hue Monuments Complex, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Hue City People's Committee, acknowledged that the destruction of the throne was "regrettable and had very serious consequences". "We will re-evaluate the situation, request a review and review of the responsibilities of each individual and organization. In particular, we will draw lessons and develop plans to better protect national treasures, artifacts and the entire relic complex", Mr. Binh said.

According to Mr. Binh, the Hue City People's Committee has reported the incident to the Government and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and assigned the responsibility to the Hue Monuments Conservation Center to coordinate with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to develop plans to protect national relics and treasures...

Mr. Hoang Viet Trung said that to prevent similar incidents, the center will develop a plan to ensure strict security and safety. This includes strengthening security equipment, support tools and protection work, training in handling security situations, and early detection and prevention of suspicious phenomena.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/di-tich-trieu-nguyen-lien-tiep-bi-xam-hai-lam-sao-bit-lo-hong-185250527215931511.htm