Chinese tourist chastised for stealing souvenir flask from UK museum

A photo of the incident was shared on Xiaohongshu, known as China's Instagram, in mid-March by a user who claimed that she felt speechless after seeing the used water bottle, Sing Tao Daily reported.

The incident quickly went viral on social media and triggered a wave of criticism from netizens across China for defaming its tourism reputation.

The tourist was thought to come from China because the bottle carried simplified Chinese characters, the mainland’s official written language, South China Morning Post reported.

The characters mean the water bottle was from the Xinfu branch of the Bank of Jinzhou in Liaoning province in northeastern China and it was given for free as a promotional gift.

The official website of the British Museum states that the souvenir flask of Rosetta Stone sells for about 12 pounds (US$15).

Online users criticized the tourist's behavior.

"This flask is not expensive. Please do not do this again. It's really disgusting behavior," a netizen wrote.

"No matter what, please don't do this. It's a shame," wrote another.