German tourists blamed for toppling 150-year-old Italian statue

A group of young German tourists posing for pictures to post on social media have been accused of toppling a valuable statue at a villa in northern Italy, the villa's manager said. Photo: YouTube screengrab

A group of young German tourists posing for pictures to post on social media have been accused of toppling a valuable statue at a villa in northern Italy, the villa's manager said recently.

Two of the group climbed into a fountain to hug the work Domina by the artist Enrico Butti and another pushed it with a stick before the 1.7m statue crashed to the ground, Bruno Golferini, the manager of Villa Alceo in the town of Viggiu, said.