A couple of teenagers in Norway who wrecked a famous 5,000-year old rock carving by scratching upon it could face prosecution under Norway’s Cultural Heritage Act.
Apologising over the deed, the vandals said that they were trying to improve the ancient image of a man on the carving to make it easier to see. However, the local officials described it as a “tragedy” for country’s cultural heritage, says a report published in The Telegraph.
“It's a tragedy, because it's one of the most famous Norwegian historical sites,” Bard Anders Lango, the mayor of nearby Alstahaug, told The Local.
The rock carving on the island of Tro on Norway’s west coast provides one of the world’s oldest evidence of skiing and is one of Norway’s most famous historical sites. It also inspired the symbols used for the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994.
The historians believe that the damage done to the rock carving is irreparable.
“It’s a sad, sad story. The new lines are both in and outside where the old marks had been. We will never again be able to experience these carvings again the way we have for the last 5,000 years,” Tor-Kristian Storvik, the county archaeologist for Norway’s Nordland County was quoted by The Telegraph as saying.
He also pointed out that the damage could be punishable under Norway’s Cultural Heritage Act and said that the violation will not go unreported.
“We are instructed by the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage to report all violations of the Cultural Heritage Act, and this is a quite serious violation,” he said.
Meanwhile, the incident has sparked strong reactions on social media, where many want the two youths to face punishment.
