An American tourist has caused outrage in Florence, Italy, after accidentally snapping a finger off a priceless 600-year-old statue of the Virgin Mary at a museum.

The unnamed tourist, a 55-year-old from New Fairfield, Connecticut, was attempting to comparing his finger to that on a marble sculpture at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (Museum of the Works of the Cathedral) when the digit broke off.

A security guard spotted the tourist and tried to stop him, but it was too late.

The American, originally from Missouri and who was on holiday with his wife and another couple at the time of the mishap, was mortified and apologized profusely, fearing prosecution and a massive fine for damaging the historic piece of work.

The sculpture was created in the 14th or 15th century by Florentine Giovanni d’Ambrogio.

Timothy Verdon, an American who is the head of the Diocesan Office of Sacred Art and Church Cultural Heritage and the Cathedral Foundation Museum in Florence, condemned his countryman’s behavior.

He said the damaged finger was not an original, but was actually recast later.

He said he is not sure how much the repair would cost – or whether it was even possible.

‘In a globalized world like ours, the fundamental rules for visiting a museum have been forgotten, that is, “Do not touch the works,”‘ he fumed.

Today, a spokesman for the museum told MailOnline that luckily the highly embarrassed tourist will not be fined or face criminal action, as the museum has a permanent team of restorers on its books – and the statue has been broken three times in the past already.