Another serious case of antiquities vandalism in China

(GLO)- A serious vandalism of artifacts occurred at the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Museum in China at the end of May, when a male tourist jumped into excavation pit No. 3 of the terracotta warriors and horses area and knocked over two 2,000-year-old terracotta statues.

2,000-year-old ancient terracotta warriors were knocked over. ( Video : Independent.co)

According to Jimu News, a Chinese tourist climbed over a fence and jumped into the world -famous terracotta army display in the Qin Shi Huang mausoleum, damaging two ancient terracotta warriors.

Witnesses at the scene described that the man first jumped to the middle floor, then continued to jump to the bottom of pit number 3, 5.4 meters deep. After standing up, he touched the terracotta warriors and horses and suddenly pushed the two statues over. The incident happened so suddenly that many people did not have time to react.

The local museum quickly closed temporarily, asking visitors to leave the area.

Through investigation, the police of Lam Dong district (Xi'an city, China) said that the man surnamed Sun (30 years old) was the one who broke the terracotta warriors and horses, and was determined to have mental problems. The case is still under investigation. Experts are also assessing the extent of damage to the two armored terracotta warriors and horses that were pushed over.

To strengthen control, the relic site has deployed additional security forces, arranged regular patrols in the museum and required visitors to strictly comply with civilized visiting regulations.

This is not the first time Chinese artifacts have been vandalized. On February 5, 2025, the site also recorded a similar incident when a tourist jumped into pit number 1 to "take a closer look". However, that incident did not cause damage to the ancient terracotta warriors.

In September 2023, according to CCTV, Chinese police received a report that a gap had been opened in the 32nd section of the Great Wall. A 38-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman used an excavator to break through the wall to create a shortcut. Authorities said the two people's actions caused "irreparable" damage to the integrity and safety of the wall structure here.

In 2023, two people were arrested for digging through a section of the Great Wall to create a shortcut.
 (Photo: Straitstimes.com)

Currently, preserving the Great Wall is one of China's priorities, as about 30% of the wall built during the Ming Dynasty (equivalent to 1,962km of wall) has disappeared, according to 2015 statistics. According to Chinese press, the wall was damaged by wind and rain and local people stole bricks to build houses./.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/them-mot-vu-pha-hoai-co-vat-nghiem-trong-tai-trung-quoc-post326111.html