Police in China have are reportedly investigating after a tourist couple vandalised a rock at Bolang Valley in Yulin City.
The pair carved out their names, a love heart and even left the date of their visit – 21 August – on the red sandstone, reports English-language China news channel CGTN.
Management of the landmark and local police are investigating the incident.
A screenshot from a video of the rock shows it covered in writing that has been etched into the soft surface.
The couple’s actions were criticised by some viewers, with one user commenting: “This destruction of nature is not civilized”.
Another wrote: “There are so many places where this couple could have chosen to express their love, not here.”
It comes after a UK influencer apologised for graffitiing her Instagram handle on ancient chalk cliffs at a well-known Dorset beauty spot.
Alexandra Milam, 24, who has more than 12,000 followers, left the unwelcome tag along with hundreds of other tourists at Durdle Door on the Jurassic Coast.
Many visitors inscribe their names, tags or messages on the soft rock, which is 180 million years old and part of England’s only natural Unesco World Heritage Site.
Milam’s efforts were spotted after a volunteer posted a picture to social media while she was helping to clean up after the weekend’s mass of visitors.
Milam has since said she feels “awful” and apologised for the stunt.
“I feel awful because of this horrific event in my life and I wish to express my deep regret for the damage by my name written on the Jurassic Coast,” she told the Dorset Echo.
