Tourists deface 65-million-year-old 'Elephant Stone' rock
A family is being blamed for desecrating a 65-million-year-old elephant-shaped stone with graffiti.
The rock, which is called Piedra del Elephante or The Elephant Stone, is an adored relic which is located in the Biosphere Reserve of El Cielo in Mexico. The rock is believed to be 65 million years old.
The stone has survived harsh conditions for millions of years but it has recently been vandalised by a family who was visiting the reserve. They painted their names and surnames on it, as well as the city where they are from: Nuevo Leon.
Their tag reads: “Familia Rubio Garcia, Monterrey” in black paint.
The Interpretative Ecological Centre of Tamaulipas shared pictures of the graffiti on Facebook.
“It is shocking to see this kind of image in places that are difficult to access, which have been around 65 million years untouched in a natural, protected area, all for human beings to come along and put their mark on it,” the centre wrote.
To reach that part of the reserve, which is around 145,000 hectares, people have to walk for about three hours.
The pictures were shared more than 2,900 times and received almost 700 comments from angry netizens.
The Secretary of Urban and Environment Development of Tamaulipas has not revealed whether they plan to investigate the case.
The elephant stone is one of the most important tourist attractions of the reserve which has a surface with four different ecosystems.
It was declared a biosphere reserve by the United Nations in 1987.
It is said that the family was finally identified by people online as they pointed out that one of their members had visited the reserve but they deleted their Facebook accounts shortly after, according to local media.
- Australscope
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