The General Directorate of Antiquities at Ministry of Culture responded in a statement to what is being circulated on social media, and considered that this “affects the civilized image of the National Museum.”

The ministry explained to the public opinion that “the woman who was inciting sectarian conflict, is not an employee of the ministry nor the museum, and that the matter will be the subject of a notification of her right before the competent court.”

The ministry emphasized the “necessity of neutralizing the cultural heritage from all conflicts,” and affirmed that “it will put its efforts to preserve the National Museum as a civilized edifice that unites all Lebanese, in their history and present, free from any blemish that may distort the national cultural image that the Ministry is keen to show, as an expression on the unity of Lebanon, and on its permanent survival as a living model for coexistence, far from any repugnant instinctive or fanatic soul.”