A Museum Visitor Wanted to Make This Priceless Clock Tick. It Got Smashed Instead

Earlier this week, a visitor to the National Clock and Watch Museum in Columbia, Pa., got a little too hands-on with one of the priceless timepieces on display. In footage caught on surveillance camera, you can see the man fiddling with a one-of-a-kind hanging wooden wall clock while his companion looks on. Unfortunately, the clock comes smashing down, breaking into pieces. When an attempt to re-hang the clock fails, the couple disperses.

Museum director Noel Poirier told NBC Philadelphia that the man then approached a museum staffer for help.

“For us, it’s a learning opportunity for folks because there are reasons that museums ask folks not to touch things,” Poirier said.

The museum decided to share the video on its YouTube and Instagram accounts—as a warning, and as a reminder. Since then, the footage has been uploaded to YouTube over a dozen times and racked up over half a million views (and counting). With any luck, this will help us all remember that some rules are really not meant to be broken.

Watch it below.

 

Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com.