From Raphael to Banksy: How Vandals Ruin Artwork All Over the World

Two Ukrainian tourists scratched their names on a fresco by one of the greatest geniuses of the Renaissance, Raphael Santi. 

Two Ukrainian tourists scratched "Lena and Tamara from Vinnytsia" on a fresco by one of the greatest geniuses of the Renaissance, Raphael Santi. 

Glass Bay, a beach on Ussuri Bay located in the Primorsky Region. Chinese tourists steal glass stones for souvenirs.

Glass Bay, a beach on Ussuri Bay located in the Primorsky Region. Chinese tourists steal glass stones for souvenirs.

The outside of the papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major) after a vandal attacked the bronze and wooden door with stone and damaged the portrayal of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary (door on R) on 19 December 2011 in Rome.

People stand by the entrance to the papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major) after a vandal attacked the bronze and wooden door with stone and damaged the portrayal of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary (L) on 19 December 2011 in Rome.

The famous Little Mermaid statue covered in paint in Copenhagen Harbour in Churchill Park, Denmark, June 1970. The sculptor Edward Eriksen created the statue, which was unveiled on 23 August 1913.

A 12th-century statue on the facade of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Spain, on which Kiss fans painted a cat's whiskers.

The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Cecilia, also known as Albi Cathedral, is the most important Catholic building in Albi, France completed in the 15th century. Unknown people have left inscriptions and scratches on the walls of the cathedral.

Italian Carabineri, paramilitary policemen, inspect a damaged bust during an anti-vandalism patrol at Pincio Park in downtown Rome. The Vandals famously sacked Rome in 455, plundering the city for two weeks, wreaking havoc and looting artistic treasures. More than 1,500 years later, they are still at it. They scrawl graffiti on the walls of historic buildings, hammer statues in Rome's beloved parks, and throw dye into the Trevi Fountain. Faced with a recent spat of vandalism, culture officials are trying to prevent the damage as they grapple to restore the defaced art. But what makes protecting the Italian capital especially challenging is the sheer amount of its treasures.

A policeman showing a rock dislodged by a group of foreign tourists when trespassing on the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, Peru, on 12 January 2020. Peruvian police arrested and interrogated six foreign tourists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and France for entering prohibited areas and causing damage to cultural property.

Tourists visit a cave bearing pre-historic drawings in Wadi Tin Lalin, in Libya's Akakus mountain region, in the desert of the western Ghat District on 1 January 2016. Rock artwork in the Akakus mountain range has been threatened for many years by vandals spraying graffiti and carving on the ancient drawings or splashing water to bring out the colours for better photos.

A local guide shows graffiti on a pre-historic drawing in a cave in Wadi Tin Lalin, in Libya's Akakus mountain region, in the desert of the western Ghat District, on 1 January 2016. Rock artwork in the Akakus mountain range has been threatened for many years by vandals spraying graffiti and carving on the ancient drawings or splashing water to bring out the colours for better photos.

The fountain of Ain El Fouara in Setif, some 300 kilometres east of the Algerian capital Algiers after it was vandalised on 18 December 2017. According to the police, a man with mental disabilities vandalised the fountain made by French sculptor Francis de Saint-Vidal in 1899.

The damaged hand of Neptune, a famous Renaissance statue in Florence on 03 August 2005. A man, in the early hours, climbed up the white marble Neptune and broke his hand in Florence's central Piazza della Signoria. Local police arrested two brothers who were thought to be drunk when they climbed onto the statue.

The damaged hand of Neptune, a famous Renaissance statue in Florence on 03 August 2005. A man, in the early hours, climbed up the white marble Neptune and broke his hand in Florence's central Piazza della Signoria. Local police arrested two brothers who were thought to be drunk when they climbed onto the statue.

St. Petersburg's Bank Bridge is one of the world's most beautiful pedestrian bridges, thanks to the glorious sculptures of golden-winged Griffins by famous local sculptor Pavel Sokolov. Vandals have scraped off all the gilding from the wings of the recently restored Griffins on Bank Bridge.

St. Petersburg's Bank Bridge is one of the world's most beautiful pedestrian bridges, thanks to the glorious sculptures of golden-winged Griffins by famous local sculptor Pavel Sokolov. Vandals have scraped off all the gilding from the wings of the recently restored Griffins on Bank Bridge.

People take photos of a mural by Bansky on the side of a house on Marsh Lane, in Barton Hill, Bristol, England, Saturday, 15 February 2020. It was vandalised just days after being put up. The artwork was confirmed as being by the artist Bansky on Valentine's Day.

A view of a mural by Bansky on the side of a house on Marsh Lane, in Barton Hill, Bristol, England, Saturday, 15 February 2020. It was vandalised just days after being put up. The artwork was confirmed as being by the artist Bansky on Valentine's Day.

A combination of three documents provided by the Centre de Estudios Borjanos on 22 August 2012 shows the original version of the painting Ecce Homo (L) by 19th-century painter Elias Garcia Martinez, the deteriorated version (C) and the restored version by an elderly woman in Spain. An elderly woman's catastrophic attempt to "restore" a century-old oil painting of Christ in a Spanish church provoked popular uproar and amusement. Titled "Ecce Homo" (Behold the Man), the original was no masterpiece, painted in two hours in 1910 by a certain Elias Garcia Martinez directly on a column in the church in Borja, northeastern Spain. The well-intentioned but ham-fisted amateur artist, in her 80s, took it upon herself to fill in the patches and paint over the original work, which depicted Christ crowned with thorns, his sorrowful gaze lifted to heaven.