After a Chilean man hit one of Easter Island’s famous stone statues with his pick-up truck on Sunday, the island’s mayor is calling for new vehicle restrictions. After the crash, which caused significant damage, the man was arrested and charged with damaging a national monument.
According to Camilo Rapu, the president of the Ma’u Henua community, which serves as a steward for the moai statues, “As people know, the moai are sacred structures that possess a religious value for the people of Rapa Nui. Something like this isn’t just dreadful, it’s an offence against a living culture that has spent the last few years fighting to regain its historic and archaeological heritage.”
