"We already have the worst reputation": Tourist breaks Brussels statue in viral video, sparks wild reactions online

Modified Sep 15, 2023 19:45 GMT

An Irish tourist in Brussels broke a lion statue (Image via X/@Funnynewshub, @V_of_Europe)

Tourists from across the world have been getting a lot of flak lately and the reported antics of a tourist in Brussels is only making matters worse. An Irish tourist was arrested on the night of Sunday, September 10, 2023, for climbing on a newly restored lion statue in front of the Brussels Stock Exchange building. The tourist climbing on the statue led to it breaking right in front of several onlookers who recorded it. It was caught on police cameras as well.

Upon seeing the now-viral clips, netizens felt secondhand embarrassment from the man's actions. Apart from that, they also debated whether the man was American or British, but as mentioned earlier, he was an Irish man.

Some hoped that he wasn't British as they claimed that they "already have the worst reputation." They took to commenting on BBC News' Instagram post about the clip with one person even saying:

Netizens were left embarrassed by the man's actions (Image via X)

Netizens shocked by Brussels vandalism

An Irish man wearing a white T-shirt and black shorts, who appeared to be drunk climbed one of the two lion statues on the staircase leading to the Brussels Stock Exchange. The two identical sculptures were on either side of the staircase and had a man holding a torch and standing beside the lion. The Irish tourist was seen sitting on the back of the lion on Saturday night.

As the tourist proceeded to get down from the lion's back, he tried to swing down as he held the arm of the man's statue. That didn't seem to go well for the tourist as the statue's arm came crumbling down and it was left without a hand.

The sound of the torch-wielding hand hitting the floor elicited loud gasps from a crowd of shocked onlookers filming the whole ordeal. The vandal, also seemingly in shock, stood by the lion and looked down at what he had done for a while. He then slowly walked off and apologized to the crowd with his hands.

Netizens were extremely enraged and embarrassed at the tourist's disrespectful behavior. People started questioning various things about how he was raised, and why he had no respect for anything. Some users called for jail time and heavy penalties while others were just plain shocked at the man's ignorance.

There was also a raging debate about the nationality of the man. Those who did not know the man was identified as being Irish, assumed that he was either, American, or British.

As mentioned earlier, people took to commenting on BBC News' Instagram post about the incident. While some said that the tourist should be permanently banned from the country, others called it a "moronic" act.

It is worth noting that the stairs leading to the Brussels Stock Exchange and the statues in front of it, one of which recently broke, had just been through a £15,000 restoration process. The monument had only been reopened to the public the day before the incident.

It was only on Saturday that the newly renovated building that now housed the new Belgian Beer World experience had opened. The entire restoration cost £77 million.

The restoration project manager, Nel Vandevennet told VRT News that the repairs will cost a lot as the work will have to be done "by real craftsmen."

He added that the building and statues are listed as heritage and that there will be a "follow-up from the Monuments and Landscapes Agency" of Brussels. He stated that they would like to get to repairs right away, which might take weeks or even months.

The evidence of the vandalism was available in police videos and the man was later arrested in a fast food restaurant. The identity of the Brussels vandal has not been revealed to the public.

Edited by Madhur Dave