Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia and the "coordinator" of the Ukrainian tourism project Udayanga Weeratunga was seen flouting regulations imposed by the Central Cultural Fund to protect th Sigiriya world heritage site.

Weeratunga and a group of Ukrainian tourists were seen taking photographs in front of the world famous Sigiriya frescoes in violation of the regulations.

The Central Cultural Fund, in 2015, banned taking photographs of the Sigiriya frescoes in order to protect them from any possible damage.

It had been previously observed that the flash light emitted when photographing damages the 1600 year old paintings of beautiful women.

The current spike of tourists visiting the Sigiriya rock has especially had an impact on the deterioration of the frescoes, according to reports.