More than 20K people have drowned in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea the last couple of years trying to escape lands on fire (wars , conflicts ,famine ,....).
What I see on the white cliffs could be there blood.
14
@George Lets hope this doesn't happen at 'Sarakiniko'
Iron oxide is fairly easy to remove without leaving stains. A vandal would have done a lot worse. Sounds like some kind of artistic attempt. Although a terrible thing to do, the red streaks on the white stone did look picturesque for the time they were there.
9
@Amos M: You think it looked "picturesque"?!
NO! The red streaks exactly like what they were: SHEER VANDALISM, period.
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@Amos M Wholeheartedly agree. The streaks of red only improved the large expanse of white.
4
@Amos M Artistic attempt? Buy a canvas. Call it for what it is.
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Humankind, now over seven billion, has many who are wretched. It's becoming clear our species perhaps doesn't "deserve nice things" as the saying goes. Arsonists are burning nature; waters are being poisoned for auto transportation/oil needs; the list goes on. It doesn't take many lousy people to destroy our beauties.
22
At least they were able to clean up the paint, unlike the US National Park where petroglyphs from thousands of years ago were defaced. The sense of entitlement these vandals have is staggering.
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I can deal (to a degree) with vandalism on buildings, but vandalism on nature is a disgrace in my book. Nature belongs to all of humanity.
(Building a hotel right on a pristine coastline is also vandalism in my book.)
14
Looking forward to an arrest.
6
On a trip to Rome 3 summers ago my husband and I walked up the street that parallels the Tiber river. Almost every beautiful old building we passed was defaced by graffiti. Imagine if every building on Riverside drive had graffiti on it. Not only is it tolerated there, apparently they've given up on even removing it.
9
When they find the culprits spray paint them head to toe in similar fashion with permanent red ink. Also, publish their names and home addresses in local papers where they live. Then for good measure assign them to 365 days of graffi removal.
21
The difference between sacred and shameful is in the eyes of the creator and the beholder. While some may call that art, others may call it a sin, especially since permission was not given for anyone to cross the line. Regardless, the shining example of humanity by those who returned this natural phenomenon to its original luster are the true artists of this moral.
25
I was there the year before Covid. The sun lights up the cliffs, it’s beautiful and surreal. And the terraces that were mentioned are rustic and lovely. If you add up all the spectacular place is in Sicily, it truly is a marvel. And no surprise that everyone pitched in to help.
23
From the photos it seems like the local citizens took their cues from the municipal workers.
2
I've been to the Staircase of the Turks. It's a spectacular place. When you're walking up and down the "stairs" and viewing the ocean, it's sublime. How sad it is that some vile sapien decided to deface them.
I have a sense that whoever did this has already bragged to someone and it will only be a matter of time before the culprit is discovered. The Italian authorities don't have much sympathy for this sort of thing.
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When I was a park ranger I almost never caught vandals. Except one day one of my subordinates was in a portable toilet and overheard some guys who had been on a graffiti spree. They ended up getting caught and prosecuted for felony vandalism. A glorious moment!
153
Some people just want to watch the world burn…
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@Kat D.
These people want to light the match.
8
Authorities are still searching for the vandal that defaces Lascaux, putting an outline of his hand on the treasured walls.
9
@MauiYankee I do hope that is sarcasm, but unfortunately, I can't be sure.
6
This is truly sad.
But....Why?
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@Mac Maybe because it seems so unnecessary to deface public property? Other comments have rightly indicated that the world has much bigger problems and, while true, none of those problems are addressed through this vandalism.
6
What a national treasure!! Please preserve it! I have been to Sicily and never saw them. I did enjoy what i did see of the island. Thank you for the memories.
27
Reminds me of some of the beautiful cities in Europe, where the stone facades at the base of buildings are covered in ugly graffiti.
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@Susan
yep, i remember graffiti even at the top of st. peter's. disgusting what people do
21
@boston doctor Is also brings up the graffiti that covered every square inch of the the inside and outside of the NYC subway cars back in the 70s and 80s , they only had an effective recourse by taking the cars out of service until the markings were removed so they were never seen for the most part. Also there was some sort of anti paint , marker, chemical applied to the surface so the material could be removed easily
3
Easy enough to isolate the heroes from the vilains in this story that, thank lord, it all seems to end rather well in light of the latest update.
First off, hats off to all the good guys, meaning those depicted in these pictures who came around to rescue the defaced site.
As to the actual elephants in the room, the vandal(s) that are still tragically missing in action, let’s at least hope that they later on get caught red-handed even if that sound quite unlikely.
Seems like security cameras should be everywhere nowadays... This isn’t the only occurrence in recent weeks where nincompoops of this world are scheming to get some attention at the detriment of a famous cultural heritage site. Few days ago, another report came out about some Native Indian Art stone art whose, thousands of years markings had been graffitied and this time irreparably damaged.
The worst is to imagine that a viral trend could emerge from such isolated episodes given that countless potential targeted sites are extremely hard to safeguard all year round for reasons there is no need to explain here.
54
They should offer a reward for info leading to capture of the perpetrator.
33
The first photograph is a visual example of why we can't have nice things.... such as inhabitable planet. The blues of the sky and sea, the white of the clouds, and the pristine cliffs scarred and bleeding at the hand of humans, for no purpose other than someone's momentary entertainment.
Yes, it was likely done by one or a few individuals, just a few among the millions who have crossed that way over the millennia.... but we have grown so large in number that nowhere is the earth safe from our follies. The entire planet has become a tragedy of the commons.
185
It looks spectacular. I want to go!
26
Oh, it is, it is, and I surely don’t have to tell you that these pictures don’t do it even half of its beauty justice. There are also so many other portions of cliffs that can be easily climbed and lain upon to sun oneself.
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@Bocheball
Sicily is one of most interesting places in the world - historically, culturally, cuisine-wise, geologically, etc. Well worth spending time there.
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@Rita
Not least of all for the people.
https://youtu.be/FWQYvG-KLvQ
3
Honestly, what is wrong with people?
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@MK ~
Well, I think it's quite important to remember that your "people" number in the billions, so I don't think we ought to go so far as to ask 'what is wrong with people.'
But yes, out of these billions of people, there are bound to be a relatively very small number of individuals (or relatively very small groups of people) who express their ugly frustrations by making ugly the Earth's beauty.
As for what's wrong with these relatively very few people? They most likely need to be around more of the sorts of great people who rallied together here in Italy to restore the wondrous beauty of the Scala dei Turchi.
9
Yesterday it was a story of permanently defaced 3000 year old petroglyphs in Texas and today this. What’s wrong with people. Who’s really going to miss them anyway?
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@Indifferent “Who’s going to miss them?"
𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚, unfortunately.
20
The suspect(s) should be incarcerated for life unless they live in Manhattan.
30
Vandalism? Oh, heavens no. It's "art", like when some guy with some spray paint decides he's an "artist" and defaces a public space because, well, he says it's art.
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@Michael Owen
Thank you for saying that which can't be said, for some reason.
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@Michael Owen This is much different than a blank cement wall or the underside of a bridge, just about all of which look much better with some spraypaint.
27