text: An ancient statue of the wife of China's first ruler is damaged - after tourists kept rubbing the woman's exposed breast. Officials have complained the bronze sculpture of Yu The Great's wife has been worn down and discolored by sightseers constantly fondling the artwork, reports The People's Daily. The statue, which stands in a gardens in Wuhan, the capital city of central China’s Hubei Province, is to honour Yu The Great, who founded China's first dynasty in 2070 BC. Officials in Wuhan, the capital city of central China’s Hubei Province, have accused tourists of damaging a statue of the country's first leader and his wife by fondling the woman's exposed breast . The sculpture, which has been in place for ten years, depicts Yu The Great, the founder of China's first Xia Dynasty in 2070 BC, meeting his wife . Legend says that Yu and his wife were brought together by a nine-tailed fox that lead them to one another . The bronze tells the story of how the leader met his wife, after the couple were supposedly brought together by a mythical nine-tailed fox. Over the decade that the statue has been in place, people have been touching the hand of Yu The Great, the fox's back, and wife's chest. While the rest of the statue is black, the colour of the coating applied to protect the metal, the parts that have been touched have worn away to expose the metal underneath. Over the years tourists have kept touching Yu's hand, the fox's back, and his wife's exposed breast - leading to them becoming worn . While the rest of the metallic sculpture is black, the colour of the protective layer which coats the statue, the fox, hand and breast have become worn, exposing the metal underneath . Locals accuse tourists of having a lack of respect for culture, but admit the behaviour is unlikey to change . Yu the Great is thought to have lived between 2,200–2,100 BCE, and is credited with uniting the nine early provinces of China. While little is known about his rule, as his predates the earliest written records by nearly a millennium, he is credited with building an immense system of flood defences in central China. These helped to bring prosperity and stability to the volatile region, and so impressed another emperor that he named Yu as his heir, rather than his own son.
target: Statue in Wuhan, central China, depicts country's first ruler and his wife .
  Tourists fondling her exposed breast has damaged statue, officials say .
  Legend has it that Yu was lead to wife by a magical nine-tailed fox .