The 23 most horrifying things tourists have done recently

Gabbi ShawOct 25, 2020, 21:26 IST

Two tourists face up to 10 years in a Thai prison for spray-painting a brick wall from the 13th century.Chiang Mai News via AP

Tourists are often considered to be obnoxious.
But there are some travelers who commit faux pas so bad they make international headlines.
For example, an Irish tourist in Italy is potentially facing jail time for defacing the Roman Coliseum and several teenagers sprayed graffiti on artwork in one of Berlin's most famous museums and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tourists are often considered an obnoxious and intrusive bunch, but some are so bad they make international headlines.

From damaging hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of art while taking a selfie to causing flight delays by throwing coins into a plane's engine for good luck, there's been no shortage of tourist faux pas over the past few years.

Keep reading for the worst tourist horror stories as of late.

Madeline Diamond contributed to a previous version of this article.

Teenagers were caught spray-painting graffiti on a piece of art outside of Berlin's Museum Island.

A stain is on Sarcophagus of the prophet Ahmose inside the Egyptian Court of the Neue Museum after smeared with a liquid in Berlin, Germany. Markus Schreiber/AP

An Irish tourist defaced the ancient Roman Coliseum by etching his initials into a wall.

A general view shows the Coliseum monument in Rome, Italy, on June 10, 2020. Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Two visitors to Starved Rock State Park in Illinois allegedly drew their initials on an over 400 million year-old sandstorm formation that's also a sacred place for Native Americans.

The pair being investigated. Twitter

Two visitors to Starved Rock State Park in Illinois allegedly drew their initials on an over 400 million year-old sandstorm formation that's also a sacred place for Native Americans.

Two French tourists were facing prison time after they tried to take home 90 pounds of sand from the Italian island of Sardinia.

A beach on Sardinia. AP/Frank Augstein

An American tourist was reportedly hospitalized after falling from a statue in Italy during a night out drinking with friends.

The statue of General Alfonso Ferrero della Marmora in Turin, Italy. Olena Kosynska/Shutterstock

An American man visiting the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland was charged with attempting to steal a piece of the historic train tracks.

The train tracks at Auschwitz. Czarek Sokolowski/AP Images

An Indonesian court sentenced a British tourist to six months in prison for slapping an immigration official in 2018.

British tourist Auj-e Taqaddas was filmed slapping an Indonesian immigration officer after she missed her flight in July 2018. Sky News

A family traveling around New Zealand had its visas revoked after wreaking havoc throughout the country, including threatening tourists, stealing, and ruining a motel room.

Takapuna Beach, New Zealand Tim Clayton/ Getty

A family traveling around New Zealand had its visas revoked after wreaking havoc throughout the country, including threatening tourists, stealing, and ruining a motel room.

An 18-year-old visitor to the Denver Art Museum was arrested after vandalizing several pieces of art.

One of the destroyed pieces of art. Denver Art Museum

Egyptian authorities are investigating a photo that appears to show a Danish couple having sex on top of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The pyramids. Shutterstock / Waj

Tourists knocked over an entire wall of art by Francisco Goya and Salvador Dalí in a Russian art museum while trying to take a selfie.

The paintings are underneath this wall. YouTube/ODN

Two tourists narrowly avoided up to 10 years in a Thai prison for spray-painting a brick wall from the 13th century.

Brittney Schneider and Lee Furlong in front of the Tha Pae Gate. Chiang Mai News via AP

A group of teens pushed a rock off a crag at Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire, England, causing irreparable damage to a landmark that's millions of years old.

A rock like the one seen above was pushed off a crag at Brimham Rocks. Flickr/Barney Moss

A tourist damaged an 800-year-old museum artifact just so he could take a photo of his kid.

The artifact before and after the damage. Courtesy of Southend-on-Sea Borough

A woman slapped an airline gate agent after she was told check-in had closed for her flight.

It's not the gate agent's fault that you're late. ileela/Shutterstock

A woman shattered a piece of art worth $800,000 while taking a selfie — and made the exhibit shut down for three days.

Yayoi Kusama's art on exhibition in Rome. AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis

A tourist threw a glove at a member of the Queen's Guard in London just to mess with him.

Tourists and a member of the Queen's Guard. Charles C / YouTube

A shopper in China fainted after breaking a bracelet worth $44,000 in a jewelry shop.

Bracelets similar to the one the tourist broke. Olexandr Vaypan/Shutterstock

A woman in Los Angeles destroyed $200,000 worth of art while taking a selfie.

Security footage of the incident. YouTube

An airline passenger threw a coin into a plane's engine for good luck, causing her flight to be delayed.

Don't throw things into an airplane engine. Alexander Tolstykh/Shutterstock

Tourists killed a baby dolphin in Spain while trying to take a selfie with it.

Tourists touching the dolphin. Equinac/Facebook

Tourists in Thailand were arrested for taking nude photos at a historic temple.

The Wat Arun temple in Bangkok. Shutterstock

A man purposely kicked and destroyed a thousands-of-years-old stalagmite in a cave in China.

A stalagmite cave. Belish/Shutterstock

Egypt just unveiled the first restaurant at the Great Pyramids ever as it doubles down on tourism to lure travelers back

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The 23 most horrifying things tourists have done recently

Teenagers were caught spray-painting graffiti on a piece of art outside of Berlin's Museum Island.

An Irish tourist defaced the ancient Roman Coliseum by etching his initials into a wall.

Two visitors to Starved Rock State Park in Illinois allegedly drew their initials on an over 400 million year-old sandstorm formation that's also a sacred place for Native Americans.

Two French tourists were facing prison time after they tried to take home 90 pounds of sand from the Italian island of Sardinia.

An American tourist was reportedly hospitalized after falling from a statue in Italy during a night out drinking with friends.

An American man visiting the former Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland was charged with attempting to steal a piece of the historic train tracks.

An Indonesian court sentenced a British tourist to six months in prison for slapping an immigration official in 2018.

A family traveling around New Zealand had its visas revoked after wreaking havoc throughout the country, including threatening tourists, stealing, and ruining a motel room.

An 18-year-old visitor to the Denver Art Museum was arrested after vandalizing several pieces of art.

Egyptian authorities are investigating a photo that appears to show a Danish couple having sex on top of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Tourists knocked over an entire wall of art by Francisco Goya and Salvador Dalí in a Russian art museum while trying to take a selfie.

Two tourists narrowly avoided up to 10 years in a Thai prison for spray-painting a brick wall from the 13th century.

A group of teens pushed a rock off a crag at Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire, England, causing irreparable damage to a landmark that's millions of years old.

A tourist damaged an 800-year-old museum artifact just so he could take a photo of his kid.

A woman slapped an airline gate agent after she was told check-in had closed for her flight.

A woman shattered a piece of art worth $800,000 while taking a selfie — and made the exhibit shut down for three days.

A tourist threw a glove at a member of the Queen's Guard in London just to mess with him.

A shopper in China fainted after breaking a bracelet worth $44,000 in a jewelry shop.

A woman in Los Angeles destroyed $200,000 worth of art while taking a selfie.

An airline passenger threw a coin into a plane's engine for good luck, causing her flight to be delayed.

Tourists killed a baby dolphin in Spain while trying to take a selfie with it.

Tourists in Thailand were arrested for taking nude photos at a historic temple.

A man purposely kicked and destroyed a thousands-of-years-old stalagmite in a cave in China.