• A tusk tip broke off Bernini’s Elephant and Obelisk in Rome, prompting a police investigation.
• The fragment, likely from a 1977 restoration, was recovered and will be repaired.
• Damage comes days just as a major Bernini exhibition opens in Rome.

The tip of a tusk on Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s famed Elephant and Obelisk monument in Rome has broken off again, prompting a police investigation just days before a major exhibition dedicated to the Baroque master opened in the city.

Italian culture officials condemned the damage to the 17th-century landmark in Piazza della Minerva as “unacceptable,” particularly as Rome prepares to celebrate Bernini with the exhibition “Bernini and the Barberini” at Palazzo Barberini. The broken marble fragment, believed to be part of a 1977 restoration and not original to the statue, has been recovered and will undergo repairs, though authorities are still determining whether the incident was vandalism or structural wear.

Alessandro Giuli, Italy’s minister of culture, noted in a statement that the ministry will help with the restoration of the work via the Capitoline Superintendency, a municipal body that oversees Rome’s cultural heritage.

On Sunday, a four-inch marble fragment, believed to be the tip of the elephant sculpture’s left tusk, was found near the base of the sculpture located not far from Rome’s Pantheon. The police on Wednesday concluded that the piece was not part of the sculpture’s original form, but rather an add-on when it was restored in 1977, according to the Associated Press.

Restorers work on November 17, 2016 to repair the broken tusk of the Elephant statue of Bernini which was damaged on 15 November, 2016 at Piazza della Minerva in Rome. Photo: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images.

The broken fragment has been transported to a storage facility and the restoration procedure will commence early next week, the Italian news outlet Agenzia Nova reported.

Investigators are reviewing security footage from Sunday’s incident to determine whether the damage was caused by natural wear or vandalism, as Italy struggles to protect its cultural heritage. Noting issues of vandalism, Rome’s Councillor for Culture, Massimiliano Smeriglio, said he hopes people will be more respectful for the city’s artistic and cultural heritage.

This isn’t the first time the sculpture has been damaged. In 2016, the elephant was a target of vandalism, resulted in the breaking off of the very same tip.

The elephant calf of Bernini supporting an Egyptian obelisk, erected in 1667 in honor of Pope Alexander VII, piazza della Minerva. Photo: Roger Viollet via Getty Images.

Standing in front of the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, the sculpture—nicknamed Pulcino della Minerva—is a popular tourist landmark. Bernini was commissioned by Pope Alexander VII to design it after a sixth-century Egyptian obelisk was unearthed in 1665. He proposed the unusual image of an elephant carrying the obelisk on its back, a concept that reportedly clashed with the Dominican friars’ preferences. The monument, completed by Bernini’s assistant Ercole Ferrata, was unveiled in 1667

Bernini is currently at the center of attention in Rome as the subject of “Bernini and the Barberini,” an exhibition that opened on February 12 and runs through June 14. Often credited as a founding figure of the Baroque, Bernini is presented in the show through his close relationship with his patron, Pope Urban VIII, whose commissions were pivotal in reshaping Rome and influencing 17th-century Western art. Meanwhile, St. Peter’s Basilica—home to some of Bernini’s most celebrated works—is undergoing a technology-driven revamp, incorporating new digital tools and A.I., as part of celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of its completion.