Shocking incident in the Acropolis Museum in Athens: A visitor defecated behind the Athena Niki relief on the first floor of the museum during visiting hours.
The incident took place on Sunday morning, October 22 , and thus a time when the Acropolis Museum is considered as a model museum and expects to host and show the Parthenon Sculptures – if and when they ever return to the country that gave birth to them –
Strange incidents have been taking place at the Acropolis Museum lately and many questions are being raised about the security level of the Museum that is going to receive the Parthenon Sculptures, if they ever return to the country that gave birth to them.
According to exclusive information obtained by news website news247.gr, an unknown person defecated on the first floor of the Museum, in the area of the exhibition of the Athena Niki relief.
The incident took place at 9:30-10:00 Sunday morning on October 22, 2023.
This incident happened during the antiquities guard’s break – during which there was no replacement – and the fact that the incident was noticed by a museum visitor who notified those in charge is sensational, news247.gr noted.
This incident was not the first weird one and it raised questions about the security measures.
“In any case, such incidents must be investigated to correct any errors and failures in the procedures, before something irreparable happens,” noted the website adding: “That is why we asked the Museum to comment but it never answered our questions.”
“The Acropolis Museum is understaffed and on autopilot”
The Museum may have not commented but its workers did.
They complained about the insufficient security measures of the museum, as well as the weak training of its security staff.
- The lack of information of the museum staff is one of the main reasons these problems arise.
- Many of the new guards do not even know the emergency exits
- Staff’s requests about an emergency, evacuation and disaster response to the Museum’s management remain unanswered.
“The Acropolis Museum is understaffed and on autopilot,” they complained.
UPDATE
On Tuesday afternoon, the director of the Acropolis Museum, Nikos Stambolidis, lashed out at the media reporting about the incident, attributing it to “an accident that can happen to any of our elderly or sick fellow human beings.”
He stressed that it had nothing to do with the security measures of the Museum.
Speaking to protothema.gr ,Stambolidis said “it was an elderly foreign visitor who, due to incontinence problems, found himself in this extremely difficult position. The incident was dealt with immediately by the museum staff, but also with discretion, so as to protect the elderly person from malicious comments.”
However, he could not hide his anger “at the false way” in which the incident was presented by a website:
“It is a shame and disgrace! It shows a lack of respect for our elderly fellow human beings whom we have a duty to support.” he emphasized.
He pointed out that the Museum has 90 guards, a sufficient number to maintain its security and that such inaccurate and uncrossed reports come from some who are trying to level that it is left standing in this country.
PS If news247.gr does not lie and asked the Museum for comment before publishing the story but the Museum refrained from responding, it is obvious why the crap ended all over the Greek internet.
