A Chinese tourist climbed over a fence and jumped into the world-famous Terracotta Army Exhibition Area in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, damaging two ancient terracotta warriors, Chinese authorities informed on May 31.
According to Xinhua News Agency, police in Xi'an, the capital of Siam Tay Province, northwest China, announced the arrest of a 30-year-old man named Sun, for damaging two level 2 protected artifacts.
This man broke the barriers and protective fences of the excavation pit of the Terracotta Warriors Museum, entering pit No. 3 at around 3:30 p.m. on May 30.
Tay An police determined that the man surnamed Sun had damaged two armored fighting statues by pushing and pulling them away, causing damage to the statues at many levels. The museum security force later controlled the man.
The hole where the man jumped was up to 5.4 m high, according to information on the museum's website.
Chinese authorities also identified the man who damaged the Chinese antique in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang as suffering from mental illness.
Built around 209 AD to guard the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the Terracotta Army consisting of 8,000 relics is one of the most important archaeological discoveries in China and is considered a symbol of the sophistication of art and military in ancient China.
As a major tourist attraction in Xi'an, the capital of Siam Tay province, northern China, this relic has become a UNESCO world heritage since 1987.
An employee at the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Museum told AFP on May 31 that the exhibition is still open as usual.
