Tourists break their toes off the Italian statue of the 19th century and then sneak out of the museu

In Italy, an Austrian tourist inadvertently broke the toes of a 200-year-old statue after posing for a picture with it.

Next to the 19th-century "Paolina Borghese as Venus Victrix" sculpture at the Museo Antonio Canova on 31 July, the unidentified man was caught on camera reclining.

Before he begins to realize the harm he has caused, CCTV footage shows him posing for a photo, looking down and touching part of the sculpture.

However, according to the museum, which is located in Possagno in northeast Italy, he did not disclose the incident.

"In a Facebook post, the Museo Antonio Canova shared images of the broken piece, writing: "Yesterday, an Austrian tourist sat on the sculpture of Paolina Borghese, causing two toes to break, then left the museum hurriedly, without reporting the truth.

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Our room guards noticed the damage a few minutes later and raised the alarm. Immediately, an emergency situation was declared.

"The post ended: "Our heritage must be protected: it is not only a civic responsibility to practice responsible conduct within the museum while preserving the works preserved in it, but a sign of reverence for what our history and culture attests to, and that must be passed down proudly to future generations.

Plans to carry out repair work on the sculpture are underway.

The mayor of Possagno, Valerio Favero, called the "criminal" tourist acts.

"He told Il Fatto Quotidiano, the Italian newspaper: "The absolutely amazing thing is that he didn't think about reporting the incident.

"The fact of leaving the sculpture in that condition is criminal in my eyes."

Because of new track and trace measures, which enable museum guests to sign in and leave their contact information, the man was found.

The guilty party sent an apologetic email to the police after he was contacted, according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos .

I sat on the statue during a visit to the Museum of Possagno, without realizing the harm I had obviously caused," he reportedly wrote." "In every way, I apologise."

If the man will be charged remains unknown.

The sculpture is a plaster cast of the marble version that is currently housed in the Galleria Borghese in Rome and was created by the Neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova in 1804.