Man arrested over Venice art attacks
A man has reportedly been arrested in connection with a series of hammer attacks on priceless statues around the city of Venice.
According to The Guardian newspaper, the 38-year-old engineer was detained in a psychiatric hospital after a priest noticed his “suspicious behaviour” in a church on Monday.
The attacks reportedly began on Saturday, when a man was noticed hitting a carving on the famous Doge’s Palace in the city’s St Mark’s Square.
Damage to several other religious works of art were discovered on Monday but he was arrested after going into a church and complaining to the priest that a particular statue’s arms were “too high”, asking to take a closer look. All the other attacks had involved damage to the hands or arms of statues. The priest immediately notified police, according to The Guardian.
The investigating magistrate is quoted as saying: “We quickly realised that these attacks were abnormal actions with no intention of stealing. The pieces were destroyed, and this strange behaviour was what led us to think that these were the actions of a mentally disturbed person.”
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
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