Tourist Damages 2,000 Year Old Terracotta Warriors

Summary

• A 30-year-old domestic tourist damaged two warriors of China’s esteemed Terracotta Army in an incident last Friday.
• The man, who officials believe “[suffers] from mental illness” is currently under investigation after he climbed the protective fence and jumped into the 18-foot-deep restricted pit at the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang in Xi’an, China.

A man damaged two prized terracotta warriors after scaling a fence and jumping into a restricted area of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang in Xi’an, China last Friday.

The 30-year-old domestic tourist “climbed over the guardrail and the protective net” before diving more than 17 feet into Pit No. 3, according to an official statement issued on Saturday. Once inside, he reportedly “pushed and pulled” several warriors which were “damaged to varying degrees.”

Footage from the incident quickly circled around Weibo, showing the man lying on the ground, surrounded by the toppled statues. Security intervened shortly after, detaining the individual who they believe “[suffers] from mental illness.”

The Terracotta Army, discovered in 1974 by local farmers, was created around 210 BCE to accompany China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, in the afterlife. The elaborate necropolis includes over 8,000 life-sized clay soldiers, each distinct in appearance, as well as hundreds of horses, chariots and real bronze weaponry.

This isn’t the first time the clay warriors have seen damage. In 2017, a man in Philadelphia drunkenly snapped a finger off of one of the statues on view at the Franklin Institute. After pleading guilty in a 2023 hearing, the culprit said he was willing to sell his prized sneaker collection to cover the cost.

While the investigation for the recent incident still underway, the museum remains open to visitors, a spokesperson confirmed to AFP.