After a few vandals were caught on camera destroying the pillars of the Vishnu temple at the UNESCO world heritage site in Hampi, India, the locals started demanding strict action against them. Roughly a week after the video surfaced, Karnataka police have arrested four people.

All of them confessed to the vandalism. "They were excited [about] seeing the monuments in Hampi," Ballari SP Arun Rangarajan said. "They claim to have toppled the pillar in sheer excitement. They had no idea how historically significant Hampi is."

"All four have been [receiving death threats] since the video went viral."

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in east-central Karnataka, India. It became the centre of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire capital in the 14th century. By 1500 CE, it was the world's second-largest medieval-era city (surpassed only by Beijing), attracting traders all the way from Persia and Portugal.

Hampi's ruins are spread over 4,100 hectares (16 sq mi) and UNESCO described it as an "austere, grandiose site" of more than 1,600 surviving remains of the last great Hindu kingdom in South India.