I'd love to know who in Greenpeace's Office of Showy Publicity Stunts thought that driving out to the Nazca lines in Peru and hiking into the middle of them, to put a sign on the ground, to send a "message" to a meeting whose delegates were going to be flying past, all the while causing irreparable damage to a World Heritage Site, was a good idea.
While the dolts from Greenpeace managed not to actually scuff up any of the actual figures (in particular, this famous hummingbird), they did manage to carve out some freaking pathways through walking through the site (http://imgur.com/gallery/0WTMM has a good image of that) — pathways that, given the geological nature of the site and the utter lack of rain in the area, will be there … um, yeah, pretty much forever.
If anyone had bothered to do their homework, they'd have known that nobody gets to walk down there unless with all sorts of serious authorization and with special broad shoes to avoid scuffing up the terrain.
Dolts. And worse. Both for the damage they'd done (idiots) but for discrediting anything having to do with their message about the environment, renewables, or anything else.
Peru, according to the articles, is trying to make sure these yahoos don't leave the country, as they can be charged for the damage and given jail time. Which strikes me as perfectly appropriate..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/10/peru-legal-action-greenpeace-stunt-nazca-lines
Video showing the damage: http://elcomercio.pe/peru/pais/lineas-nasca-marcas-dejadas-greenpeace-son-irreparables-noticia-1777541
Before: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Lignes_de_Nazca_D%C3%A9cembre_2006_-_Colibri_1.jpg
After: http://time.com/3627655/peru-greenpeace-nazca-crime/
(h/t +Isaac Sher)
Greenpeace activists damage Peruvian heritage site to send environmental message
Greenpeace apologized to Peru today for placing a gigantic banner promoting renewable energy on the site of the Nazca Lines, an ancient heritage site, reports the BBC. The damage caused by the…
Let me put it this way. This makes me want to find a whaler boat and give them money to ram through a Greenpeace barge, that's how pissed off at Greenpeace I am.
It's just incredibly stupid, both from a mission standpoint and from a Visigothic Publicity Standpoint, damaging something horribly precious.
Just — idiotically infuriating and infuriatingly idiotic.
I guess they're going to cancel rearranging the blocks in Stonehenge, then?
Way to arrogantly and stupidly crap all over their brand.
Why the hell did they have to do that? Have they not heard of computer imagery?
Omg!
They should have been arrested by the Peruvian police!
+Steve Porritt The idea was to have the sign on the ground when various meeting delegates flew past (touring from the air as so many do because people aren't allowed on the ground).
I hope the responsible people get caught and do get a sensible penalty. As someone who grew up in that country, I know how precious and valorable this signs are for the peruvian people. It was just pretty stupid for #greenpeace to do such a thing. Pretty stupid.
Stupid, arrogant, self-centered, self-destructive …
There's a worthwhile message there that they are trying to get across. Unfortunately, not only have they harmed this antiquity, but have actually alienated people from that message in doing so.
I’ve had doubts about Greenpeace from the very beginning. This thoughtless, arrogant vandalism erases none of those doubts.
What a bunch of assholes. That is the only word for them. Their own egos and thirst for recognition made them arrogant enough to damage this site. Nothing matters more than publicity to them, certainly not anything in the environment.
I live in Peru and I think this is a disgrace. I hope the government does prosecute them.
Omg are you kidding me! One of the last treasures Peru has and they're doing that!
Those losers
Greenpeace lost all credibility with me a long time ago. The ranks of people like me have now swelled immensely by this shameful, irresponsible stunt.