1. Caught on camera knocking over $132,000 statue
A child was caught on camera attempting to “hug” a piece of artwork during a wedding reception held in Overland Park, Kansas in June 2018. The statue, which is called “Aphrodite di Kansas City” was created by artist Bill Lyons, and had an estimated value of $132,000. It fell to the ground after the child attempted to hug it, and the community center where the wedding reception was held has filed an insurance claim making the parents liable to pay for the damage.
2. Trips and punches hole in $1.5 million painting
A Leonardo da Vinci-themed exhibit was on display at the Huashan 1914 Creative Arts Center in Taipei, Taiwan back in August 2015. A rather unlucky 12-year-old boy just so happened to slip while exploring the exhibit. As he reached out to catch himself, he ended up punching a fist through a $1.5 million painting that was on display. Entitled “Flowers”, and painted by Baroque artist Paolo Porpora, the painting dates back to the 17th century. Luckily, the exhibit’s organizers had insurance to cover the cost of repairing the damaged hole, saving the boy’s family a huge expense to repair the damage.
3. Destroys over $1,000-worth of makeup at Sephora store
A shopper and makeup artist shared a photo of a completely destroyed eyeshadow display at a Sephora store in Augusta, Georgia, to Facebook back in November 2017. Although the little assailant was never identified, there was over $1,000-worth of damage, and a woman was seen rushing her child out of the store, and there were tiny glittery footprints leading out of the entrance…
4. Knocks over and destroys $15,000 Lego sculpture
It was just an hour after the opening of a Lego exhibit in Ningbo, China before a young boy knocked over a human-sized Lego sculpture, shattering it into pieces. The sculpture was of a fox character from the Disney movie, Zootopia. It cost over $15,000 and took the artist some three days to put together. The boy’s parents apologized to the artist, who accepted their apology and reassured them that he knew that it was just an accident.
5. Adults film as two children play (and damage) piece of artwork
The English-language news channel operated by China Central Television captured footage of two young boys playing with, and breaking, a sculpture on display at the Shanghai Museum of Glass in May 2016. Instead of having the presence of mind to try and stop them, their adult chaperones decided to film them on their smartphones instead.
“Angel in Waiting”, by artist Shelly Xue, took 27 months to create, but the angel was wingless within seconds after the boys managed to break off a piece, leading to it falling and shattering all over the floor. Xue didn’t bother fixing it after, simply renaming the sculpture “Broken”. It remains unknown whether the adults were ever held responsible for the damage.
6. Goes on a rampage in Dollar Store
A boy went on a rampage at a Dollar Store in Tallahassee, Florida in December 2014. As he made this way through the store, he decided that it would be a good idea to start flinging products off the shelves at will. He went on to threaten a customer before he was grabbed by the collar and taken out of the store by a man who is believed to be a store employee.
7. Group of teens destroys an ancient landmark
Police in North Yorkshire, UK were alerted to a group of five young people pushing a rock off a crag at National Trust site in June 2018. The rock formation was millions of years old and had been shaped by millennia of exposure to wind, rain, and ice. "The incident has not only caused considerable damage to both the rock and the crag face, but those responsible also put themselves in danger and have created a potential hazard for other visitors to Brimham Rocks," the police said.
8. Group of kids pushes over The Duckbill
Perched atop Cape Kiwanda in Oregon’s Pacific City, The Duckbill was an iconic stone landmark that had stood for millions of years. A group of genius kids decided to breach the fencing and knock the famous rock formation over. Unluckily for them, a man by the name of David Kalas was filming a drone video in the area. He filmed them trying to knock The Duckbill over until they eventually succeeded. No-one from the video has been positively identified, but the matter has been referred to the local police.
9. Carves his name into 3,500-year-old Egyptian sculpture
A Chinese teenager on a visit to Luxor in Egypt in May 2013 thought it would be a great idea to carve “Ding Jinhao visited here” into a 3,500-year-old sculpture. This incident prompted the Chinese National Tourism Administration to issue advice to its citizens telling them to comply with public orders and respect the heritage of the countries they visit.
