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| Defaced temple in Egypt |
(Scroll down for video) A Chinese teen was slammed for defacing an ancient temple in Egypt, according to a statement released by the Tourism Ministry in China.
Now, the parents of the Chinese tourist, 15, have apologized after the teenager defaced a stone sculpture of an ancient Egyptian temple with graffiti.
The act provoked anger in Egypt and in China. The act of vandalism generated a massive reaction amongst online social media users.
The vandalism was photographed by a Chinese traveler who was extremely embarrassed. The photo was later uploaded on a micro-blogging site in China.
"The saddest moment in Egypt. I'm so embarrassed that I want to hide,” the Egyptian tour guide said. “I'm sorry," the traveler wrote.
"We wanted to clean the graffiti with a towel, but we can’t use water as it is a 3,500-year-old relic," the traveler added.
The teen responsible for the attack was identified as Ding Jinhao of Nanjing, China.
After being slammed online, Ding’s parents made a public statement.
"We apologize to the Egyptian people and the people who have looked at this in China," Ding’s mother said.
Ding's parents said they took responsibility for what their son did, adding that he had learned his lesson.
Earlier this month, Beijing called on tourists from their country to improve their behavior, with Vice Premier Wang Yang saying it was important to project a good image of the Chinese people.Mobile video not loading? Click here to view