Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the leading sculptor of his age, oversaw the sculpture of the elephant, which had the tip of its left trunk broken off in the incident on Sunday night.

Spanish tourists alerted local police to the damage the following day. The broken fragment, which was lying on the floor by the statue, was recovered and secured by the Vigili del Fuoco.

The elephant was commissioned in 1667 by the then pope, Alexander VII, to support an obelisk from ancient Egypt that had only recently been discovered in the Eternal City.