A police spokesman said the 65-year-old had been in Rome for about three days and appeared to be “psychologically distressed.” He was given an aggravated property damage charge and released, the spokesman said.Rick Steves, who runs a Europe travel business, said that although all artifacts in the museum could be considered precious, the damaged pieces were relatively insignificant.For Steves, the downside of such incidents may also be “the loss of access to beautiful art in general.”To avoid other incidents, the museum could choose to put more security up, as was the case after a notorious artwork assault in 1972.That year, a Hungarian geologist attacked Michelangelo’s Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica with a hammer, damaging the Carrara marble sculpture depicting the Virgin Mary holding Jesus after the crucifixion.“He wanted you to be up close.”The Vatican museums, where millions of people a year flocked before the pandemic, reopened last year after coronavirus restrictions closed them or curbed opening hours."