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Officials said that the lion’s right ear was broken off on Feb. 24. Following an investigation, The Daily Collegian reported that Fairfield resident Matthew Ian Deutch, 19, and Broadway, N.C. resident Skylar Belden, 18, were charged with criminal mischief and tampering with evidence by university police this week.
The pair - both students at Penn State - are also subjected to paying nearly $500 in fines.
According to the reports, this isn’t the first time the Nittany Lion shrine was vandalized, including incidents in 1978, 1994 and 2003, though one may have been accidental.
“The defendant(s) recklessly tampered with tangible property of another so as to endanger said property,” the criminal complaint states. “The defendant(s) knocked the right ear off the Nittany Lion Shrine and left it lay, endangering the property.”
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