Peru will use DRONES to monitor Machu Picchu after tourists defecated in a sacred temple at the world-famous Inca citadel
- Officials at Machu Picchu, Peru, said drones and CCTV will be installed at the site
- Six tourists arrested this month after park rangers found them in restricted area
- Inside Temple of the Sun faeces were found and part of stone wall knocked over
- 18 new cameras will reportedly be placed at three strategic points of the citadel
Drones and CCTV will be introduced at Machu Picchu, after a group of tourists were accused of defecating in a sacred temple at the world-famous Inca citadel.
Official indicated new measures would be used for security but also in a bid to prevent any desecration of the Temple of the Sun.
The six tourists were arrested this month after park rangers found them in a restricted area of the temple, a key part of the iconic site.
Inside the temple, faeces were found, the region’s cultural authorities said.
One of the six, 28-year-old Nahuel Gomez from Argentina, admitted attempting to remove a stone slab which then fell from the temple wall and caused a crack in the floor.
Six tourists were arrested for ‘damaging Peru’s cultural heritage’ by trespassing at Machu Picchu and knocking over part of a stone wall, leaving a mark in the ground (right)
Drones and CCTV are to be installed around Machu Picchu (pictured in a file image) to stop any desecration of the sacred site in Peru
The 18 new cameras will reportedly be placed at three strategic points of the citadel, as well as access points from the surrounding mountains.
Jose Bastante, head of the archaeological park in Peru: ‘We are going to strengthen security at Machu Picchu by installing high-tech cameras.
Police say they also found faecal matter in the area, and suspect some of the group of defecating (pictured, the fallen stone)
‘This will allow us to better control visitors and avoid any action or infraction to the regulations, also any type of risk.’
The group, who were arrested on January 12, comprised four men and two women between the ages of 20 and 32, including two Argentines, two Brazilians, a Chilean and a French woman.
They allegedly entered the UNESCO World Heritage site the day before their arrest and hid, intending to spend the night there, which is prohibited.
Gomez was fined £275 and must pay £1,140 to the culture ministry for repairs.
He also received a suspended sentenced of three years and four months, but once the fines are paid he can leave the country.
The other five tourists were deported to Bolivia last week and barred from returning to Peru for 15 years.
‘The damaged caused is significant. The integrity of Machu Picchu has been broken,’ said Bastante.
When the site was an Inca citadel, the Temple of the Sun would have been used to make offerings to the sun god – the civilisation’s most important deity.
Machu Picchu is believed to date back to the 1450s and to have been used for some 80 years before being abandoned during the Spanish conquests.