Tourist climbs and breaks recently reopened statue in Brussels

A tourist in Belgium climbed and broke a statue that had just been refurbished.

The Irish tourist, suspected to be drunk, was spotted climbing a recently renovated lion statue in the Belgian capital, outside the Brussels stock exchange, causing one part of it to break off and fall to the ground.

The video shows the unnamed man stumbling on the statue and trying to steady himself, with the person filming the footage making a shocked noise after part of it crumbled.

The man was arrested and the building's management has called for him to cover the cost of repairs, the BBC reports.

The building, now home to the new Belgian Beer World experience, had reopened the day before, on Saturday 9 September, after undergoing major renovation work that cost £77m in total.

Nel Vandevennet, who managed the restoration project, described the man as being “in a merry mood”.

“The repairs are going to cost a lot of money because the work will have to be done by real craftsmen,” he said.

“It is listed heritage and there will be follow-up from the monuments and landscapes agency of the Brussels region.

“We would like to carry out the repairs quickly, but it will surely take a few weeks or even months.

“The whole building has only just been restored to its former glory, including the two lions which were in a bad way.

“We thought the sculptures would enjoy greater respect. We just think it’s very sad this happened.”

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