Six tourists were arrested after damaging and defecating inside the Temple of the Sun, a sacred and restricted area of Machu Picchu in Peru.
The Temple of the Sun was once the place for Inca ceremonies and rituals and construction of the famous Inca fortress began around 1450. The Ministry of Culture spoke to TV Peru and stated that the tourists damaged a wall inside the temple, where faecal matter was also found.
The group of four men and two women consists of three Argentines, one Brazilian, one Chilean and a French tourist, aged between 20 and 32. The group hid out in the sacred site, so as to illegally spend the night at Machu Picchu.
According to The Guardian, of the six tourists, five will be deported and one Argentinian man faces charges of ‘destroying Peru’s cultural heritage’ and could face a prison sentence of at least four years if found guilty. According to France 24, the man allegedly admitted to trying to remove a stone which fell to the ground and chipped, causing a crack in the floor.
The group allegedly snuck into the ruins, causing a rock to come loose and fall from a wall of the temple, damaging it. One of the members of the group defecated inside the temple.
The ancient Incan city is a Unesco World Heritage Site that sees 1-million visitors per year.
Image: Unsplash
