A visitor at the Terracotta Army Museum in Shaanxi, China, jumped over a railing and fell into a pit, damaging a millennia-old artifact. On May 30th, the man fell from an 18-foot height into a pit containing the historic terracotta figures. Witnesses saw the man fall and damage the statue before he got up.
Local authorities told The Guardian that the man “pushed and pulled” the clay warriors, and two of them “suffered varying degrees of damage.” In footage obtained by People, the man was seen lying on the ground with his arms raised above his head.
Authorities told The Guardian that the man was “restrained” by on-site security. Witness Xiao Lin told NewsFlare that the visitor jumped into the excavated pit, landed in the middle, and then further jumped to the bottom. Lin said other visitors shouted at the man, “What are you doing?” “Later, the museum was closed, and we were evacuated by the staff,” Lin told NewsFlare.
Authorities told The Guardian that the perpetrator was a “domestic visitor” and confirmed he was a 30-year-old man. The Guardian reported that the man is known to have a “mental illness,” and the case is currently under investigation. The Terracotta Army, a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, was discovered by local farmers in 1974. It is believed that the approximately 8,000 individual figures of “funerary art” were created sometime in the 3rd century BCE to guard the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
The museum, built over the discovery site, showcases this impressive find to the public. Despite the damage, the Terracotta Army Museum remains open to the public.
