A five-year-old boy has accidentally broken an ancient urn dating to the late Bronze Age at a museum in Israel.

The artefact was on display at the Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa when the damage happened on Friday.

But the reaction from the museum’s director, Dr Inbal Rivlin, might take some people by surprise.

Directly addressing the boy and his mother, she invited them to return for a guided tour adding: “Don’t be afraid, we have no claim against you.”

The pair are said to have been “scared” after the jar was damaged near the entrance to the museum and quickly left.

The archaeological find was discovered during excavations in Samaria, in central Israel, and has been in the museum for 35 years.

It is dated to between 1130 and 1500 BC.

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The museum described the jar as rare and an “impressive find” as most others of that period were found broken or incomplete.

It added in a statement: “It predates the days of David and King Solomon, is typical of the Canaan region and was intended for storing and transporting local consumption, mainly wine and olive oil”.

Dr Rivlin explained that the jar was not behind a display case because of the vision of the museum’s founder, Dr Reuven Hecht.

His intention was to make archaeological items as accessible as possible to visitors.

The museum says artefacts rarely suffer damage but this jar will be repaired and placed back on display.

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Dr Rivlin also issued a note of caution to parents suggesting they may need to give their children guidance before their visit, so exhibits are not touched unless it is explicitly stated that is allowed.

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The museum, which is free to enter and within the grounds of the University of Haifa, has numerous archaeological exhibits from the Chalcolithic to Byzantine periods.

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