The Bourse in Brussels city centre recently reopened after a big renovation, but has already been damaged again by an intoxicated tourist on Sunday night.
The Bourse and the two lions on the stairs in front of it have only just been restored. On Saturday, the building finally opened its doors after three years of restoration, which cost €90 million. A day later, one of the lion statues has already been damaged.
A video shows an Irish tourist, clearly intoxicated, climbing on the back of the statue to have his photo taken, next to the statue of a man holding a torch. However, when trying to crawl off the statue, the torch breaks off.
Police were notified and the man was arrested shortly afterwards in a fast food restaurant nearby – unaware of the harm he had caused. The statue, which was also only recently restored, will now have to be repaired again.
The restoration of the lion cost €17,600, and the management of the Bourse reportedly wants to recover the costs from the Irishman, Het Nieuwsblad reports.
