£30,000 worth of golden candlesticks destroyed in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican
A man jumped onto the main altar of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, destroying £30,000 worth of golden candlesticks.
Videos circulating on social media show a man attacking golden statues in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The video appears to have taken place on February 7 and was recently shared on social media.
The man who vandalised the candelabra went to the main altar of St Peter's Basilica, climbed up the altar, removed a cloth and destroyed six golden candelabra worth £30,000. The altar is one of the most sacred places in the Vatican, built over the tomb of the Apostle Peter, which is topped by a 95-foot bronze baldachin designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Vatican News also wrote: “The twisted columns in the design of the baldachin, chosen by Gian Bernini in the 17th century, were inspired by a relic known as the ‘Sacred Column,’ a column said to have existed in the Temple of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ preaching.”
St. Peter's Basilica, which had just been renovated in time for the 2025 Christmas celebrations, has been attacked again, and this is not the first time the church has been vandalized. In 1972, Michelangelo's famous statue was badly damaged when Hungarian geologist Laszlo Toth attacked it with a hammer, but the artwork has been protected behind bulletproof glass ever since.
Regarding the attack on the church altar and the destruction of the candlesticks, Matteo Bruni, the director of the Vatican press office, called the man in question a person with a serious mental disability and announced that the Vatican police had arrested him and handed him over to the Italian authorities.
