The inscription “go work for a living” has been found above ancient carvings at the Murujunga National Park in Western Australia, the Mail online reports. The region is home to the world’s largest collection of rock art. It holds an estimated two million aboriginal rock carvings, some of them up to 60,000 years-old.
The incident is far from unusual, and tourists are thought to be the culprits. “It seems to be a hobby or fun for some people to go around literally desecrating what is the world’s most important Mona Lisa,” Green politician Robin Chapel told ABC News.
“Those scratches aren’t going to go away because exactly the same way that the carvings remain, those scratches remain,” he continued. “So, whoever’s done the vandalism out there has left their signature there for a very, very long time.”`
Birds, marsupials, and humans are among the figures represented by the carvings.
Archeologist Ken Mulvaney has criticized the Australian government for their failing in protecting the precious artifacts.
“There is inadequate protection and policing of heritage by the state,” he said.
“They don’t even have adequate staff at the moment.”