The Director of the Vatican Museums, Ms Barbara Jatta, on Thursday expressed worry over what she regards as a lack of cultural sensitivity by visitors.

Jatta cited instances of people sticking wads of chewing gum beneath the wooden pews from the 17th Century.

She said every day, the cleaning staff find just about everything.

“Half-empty, half-full water bottles. Such a lack of culture. You have to ask yourself how this is possible,’’ she said.

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At the official dedication of the so-called Braccio Nuovo in the museums, there was one father, who lifted his child onto the console of the picture gallery to take a picture.

“Even cultivated, elegant, officially-invited people do such things,” reports Jatta, an art historian by training.

Her remarks come a year after Pope Francis named Jatta as the first woman ever to head the Vatican museums, which are among the most-visited museums in the world.

(Source: dpa/NAN)