Damaged tusk of Bernini's elephant in Piazza della Minerva in Rome, cameras under investigation

Broken tusk of the marble elephant at the base of the obelisk in Piazza della Minerva in the centre of Rome. The alarm was triggered last night when a report was made to the municipal superintendence. The local police were on the scene, who recovered the part that had fallen to the ground of the Bernini sculpture and started investigations. The agents of the Trevi Group I will examine the area's camera recordings to ascertain when it happened and establish whether it was deliberate damage or whether the statue was damaged by wear and tear made worse by bad weather.

'It is unacceptable that once again the artistic and cultural heritage of the nation should suffer such serious damage. Just a few days before the inauguration of the major exhibition on Gian Lorenzo Bernini at the Galleria di Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini, it is his Elefantino in Piazza della Minerva that is being targeted'. This was stated by the Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli. "The Ministry of Culture, through the Special Superintendence of Rome deputed to the high surveillance of artistic heritage," he continues, "will give its contribution to the Capitoline Superintendence, on which the monument depends, for the restoration of the sculpture: one of the most significant symbols of the Capital, struck by an absurd act of barbarism.