Tourist carves names on Palace Museum relics

An employee with the Palace Museum said that they will consider reporting an incident to police where a tourist carved characters on a copper urn, the Beijing Times reported.



On September 11, a Net user broke the news that a tourist carved a heart and two people's names on a copper urn. The urn was made in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and is more than 300 years old. After the revelation, many Net users criticized this behavior. The employee with the museum said that they have seen people carving characters in cultural relics every year.



According to the employee, if the person is caught on site, they will report them to the police. If not, they will refer to the management to see whether they need to call the police based on the seriousness of the situation. Lawyer Wang Nianhua said that the perpetrator could face up to a 200 yuan ($31) fine or a warning.



UPDATE, September 15: The Palace Museum has since reported the vandalism to the police, according to a report on thepaper.cn.





