MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican
official said Friday that Canadian pop star Justin Bieber and his
entourage were asked to leave the Mayan archaeological site of Tulum
after he apparently tried to climb onto or among the ruins.
The
official of the National Institute of Anthropology and History spoke on
condition of anonymity because he or she was not authorized to be
quoted by name.
Bieber was visiting the seaside ruins on Thursday when the incident occurred.
The official could not specify which of the site’s structures Bieber allegedly had climbed, but said he was “asked to leave.”
Visitors
can climb some pre-Hispanic pyramids in Mexico, but officials rope off
or place ‘no entry’ signs on some ruins that are considered vulnerable
or unstable.
Bieber has apparently been on vacation in the Tulum area, on Mexico’s Caribbean coast south of Cancun, for several days.
Despite
the singer’s reputation for getting out of line, the representative of a
native Maya ecotourism camp that Bieber visited near Tulum several days
before described him as “completely respectful.”
Nathalie
Leño, the spokeswoman for AllTournative, a cooperative effort with Maya
communities at a camp called the Jungla Maya Park, said Bieber visited
Jan. 5 and “expressed a lot of interest in the work we do to preserve
the environment.”
“He was completely respectful, and he participated in the welcoming ceremony performed by a local shaman,” said Leno.“He even ate some of the traditional food prepared by local communities,” she noted.
Bieber has been involved in several incidents in Latin America in recent years.
In
2013, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto denied a tweet by Bieber
saying the singer met with the leader and his family prior to a show.
Apparently,
Bieber was confused about whether the president was there or not.
Bieber later wrote in a tweet, “correction. I met the presidente’s
family and all their friends in the private meet and greet with all
their security. They were very nice.”
That
same year, Bieber faced two criminal complaints and demands for refunds
in Argentina, in addition to trouble with police for allegedly spraying
graffiti in Brazil.
Bieber
angered Argentines by abandoning a concert after less than an hour and
not showing up for a photo-op that some fans paid hundreds of dollars
extra for. The singer’s manager said Bieber came down with food
poisoning after a concert.
One Argentine lawyer accused Bieber of sending bodyguards to attack a photographer outside a Buenos Aires nightclub.
Another
accused him of defiling the national symbol by dragging two Argentine
flags off stage with his feet and a microphone stand before 45,000
“beliebers” during the first of two concerts in River Plate stadium.
Bieber
also walked off the stage in Brazil, ending a concert early after
someone threw a plastic bottle at him and Brazilian police tried
unsuccessfully to question him about defacing a public building with
graffiti, a crime that carries a year’s prison sentence.